The lake is believed to have been formed when a meteor struck the earth approximately 25 million years ago.
Eventually melt water from the surrounding mountains filled the basin forming Lake Karakul with a diameter of 25 km.
The name was changed with the advent of the Soviet system in the 1920s.
Lake Karakul has two basins separated by a peninsula from the south and an island in the north.
Three rivers flow into Lake Karakul, but there being no outlet, the water is very salty.
Photo credit:Vladimir Trofimov
