Uvs Lake Basin

Uvs Lake Basin(alsoUvs Nuur BasinorUbs Nuur Basin;Mongolian:Увс нуурын хотгор,romanized:Uws nuuriin hotgor) is anendorheic basinlocated on the territorial border ofMongoliaandTuva, a republic of theRussian Federation. The basin is part of theCentral Asian Internal Drainage Basinand is named afterUvs Lake(Uvs Nuur, Ubsu Nur), a large saline lake situated in the western part of itsdrainage basin, and is one of the last remnants of themammoth steppes. Uvs Lake is a shallow lake with an area of 3,350 km(1,290 sq mi). Its entire basin, which includes several smaller lakes, is 70,000 km(27,000 sq mi).
Uvs Lake Basin may also refer toUbsunur Hollow(Russian: Убсунурская котловина,Ubsunorskaya Kotlovina), which is the western part of the drainage basin, or to over 10,000 km(3,900 sq mi) of protected areas covering the lake and its surroundings. The hollow forms the northern part of theGreat Lakes Depression, which has a surface of over 100,000 km(39,000 sq mi). The hollow, and most of the drainage basin, are situated in theKhövsgöl,ZavkhanandUvs Provincesof north-western Mongolia, and theMongun-Tayginsky,Ovyursky,Tes-KhemskyandErzinsky Districtsof southern Tuva.
The basin is part of a combination of raised lands and hollows located throughout theTannu-OlaandAltaimountainous regions. Here, the world's most northerndesertmeets theNorthern Hemisphere's most southerntundrazone. An area of 10,560 km(4,080 sq mi), around three quarters of which lies in Mongolia, was designatedBiosphere Reservein 1997, and a partly overlapping zone of around the same size was designatedUNESCO World Heritagein 2003. The Mongolian part of the lake and its immediate surroundings were further adopted asRamsar wetlandin 2004.
TheTannu-Ola mountainsform the northern border of Ubsunur Hollow.Tere-Khol' Lake[sv], the onlyfreshwaterlake of the basin, lies, like Uvs Lake, on the Russian-Mongolian border. The more eastern part of the Uvs Lake drainage basin extends, in the north, to the Sengilen ridge of theSayan Mountains, and in the east, to the basin ofSangiin Dalai Lake. The southern part of the hollow is bordered by the basin ofKhyargas Lake, with theKhan Khökhiimountains separating both basins of theGreat Lakes Depression. More to the east, theBulnai mountain range[sv]forms the southern border of Uvs Lake's drainage basin. West of the Uvs Lake Basin lies the endorheic basin ofÜüreg Lake, bordered by theAltai Mountains. TheTsagan-Shibetu ridge[sv]separates, in part, the Uvs and Üüreg lake basins. The south-western tip of the Uvs Lake Basin covers most of theTürgen Uul[sv]range, and includes the north-eastern slopes ofHarhiraa mountain[sv].
According toGreenpeace, Ubsunur Hollow counts 40,000archaeological sitesfrom nomadicScythians,Turks,Hunsand other tribes. A number of its archaeological artefacts remain unstudied. InCentral Asia, it has the highest concentration ofburial mounds, constituting around half of its archaeological sites, and many of which are older than theEgyptian pyramids. Thousands of rock carvings and stone sculptures remain frommedievalsettlements andBuddhist temples.
Archaeological searches carried out in 2007–2008 on thePor-Bazhynruins, which are situated on an islet in the Russian part of Tere-Khol' Lake, suggested that the enclosure was built around the middle of the second half of the 8th century, under theUyghur Khaganate.
The population density is low in the Ubsunur Hollow. It is populated almost exclusively by the nomadicTuvan peopleand cattle breeders living inyurts. The lack of industry and the reliance of the inhabitants on traditional ways of life, such asnomadic pasturing, have had little impact on the landscape and have allowed the ecosystem to remain relatively free from the negative effects that human presence can impose.Both the Russianand the Mongolian parts of the hollow are home tonomadicTuvancattle herders, who live inyurtsand make up virtually all of the population.
The Hollow, located on the border betweenMongoliaandRussia, lies at the intersection of complex ecosystems. Its area is 10,688 km(4,127 sq mi).Theterrainincludesglaciers,desert,alpine tundra,  subalpine meadows, and  a vast mountaintaigaareas. There are also forestedsteppes, treeless steppes,semi-ariddeserts, and ever shiftingsand dunes. It is a diversified natural habitat, producing an interaction of Euro-Siberian and Central Asian-Mongolian plant and animal life.
Due to its location on the cusp of theSiberianandCentral Asian-Mongolian terrains, the flora and fauna of the hollow exhibit a highbiodiversityfor mid-latitudes. Animal species that inhabit both mountains and tundra, such as theSiberian roe deerandAltai snowcock, flourish here. The endangeredsnow leopardis also present, as well as taiga dwellers such as theCaspian red deer,lynxandwolverine. Steppe dwellers include theMongolian lark,demoiselle craneand long-tailed Siberiansquirrel. Desert inhabitants include thebustardandmidday gerbil. The bird species alone number some 359. Since the hollow is a protected area, many ancient speciesextinctin other regions have found refuge here.
In 1993 Russia protected the Tuvan parts of Ubsunur Hollow as the Ubsunurskaya Kotlovina State Nature Biosphere Reserve.In 1995 Greenpeace Russia prepared its proposal to nominate Ubsunur Hollow, in conjunction with Mongolia, asWorld Heritage Site, describing it as "one of the largest intactwatershedsin Central Asia".
Ubsunur HollowBiosphere Reserveis a fragile mountainhollowor depression located on the territorial border ofMongoliaand  theRepublic of Tuvain theRussian Federationamong the mountains  —Tannu-Ola Mountains, and theAltay Mountainsregion —  part of a combination of raised lands and depressions. Here the world's most northerndesertmeets the world's most southerntundrazone.
Ubsunur Hollow Reserve (Tuva) was awarded internationalBiosphere Reservestatus in 1998, as a step toward protecting SouthernSiberia's wilderness which contain  Russia's largest intact tracts ofSiberian PineandSiberian Fir-dominated ecosystems.
Ubsunur Hollow was nominated for inclusion  in Russia's secondWorld Heritage Site(the first being theVirgin Komi Forests) in 1995  as "one of the largest intactwatershedsin Central Asia where up to 40,000 unexcavatedburial moundsand otherarchaeological sitescan be found from historically famousnomadic tribessuch as theScythians, theTurksand theHuns."The nomination was submitted in conjunction with the Tuva Republic and Mongolia and included 75,000 square kilometres of forest and steppe and associated cultural and natural heritage.
The Uvs Lake Basin World Heritage Site, designated as 769rev in 2003, includes: