Where does this come from, and can I check it?

Rivers were diverted for cotton irrigation, and the lake shrank into separate fragments. The figure is taken from United Nations Environment Programme, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

Is this really a world geography fact?

Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.

What else can I read about it?

The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.

Mondo Knows Facts

The Aral Sea lost most of its water

Rivers were diverted for cotton irrigation, and the lake shrank into separate fragments Soviet-era canals took water from the Amu Darya and Syr Darya, cutting the inflow that had sustained the lake. By the 2010s it had lost roughly ninety per cent of its area. Former ports now stand far from the water, and salt and dust blow off the exposed bed. It sits in Mondo's world geography collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.

Where this comes from

United Nations Environment Programme

Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.

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Tags: lakes, central-asia, environment

The Aral Sea lost most of its water: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Rivers were diverted for cotton irrigation, and the lake shrank into separate fragments. The figure is taken from United Nations Environment Programme, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a world geography fact?: Yes. It sits on the World Geography shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.