page_title: Chilika Lake
section_title: Geography and topography
hierarchical_section_title: Chilika Lake / Geography and topography
caption_attribution_description: Mahanadi River,Cuttack,Orissa
context_page_description: Chilika Lake is a brackish water lagoon, spread over the Puri, Khurda and Ganjam districts of Odisha state on the east coast of India, at the mouth of the Daya River, flowing into the Bay of Bengal, covering an area of over 1,100 km. It is the largest coastal lagoon in India and the second largest brackish water lagoon in the world after The New Caledonian barrier reef. It has been listed as a tentative UNESCO World Heritage site.
  It is the largest wintering ground for migratory birds on the Indian sub-continent. The lake is home to a number of threatened species of plants and animals.
  The lake is an ecosystem with large fishery resources. It sustains more than 150,000 fisher–folk living in 132 villages on the shore and islands.
  The lagoon hosts over 160 species of birds in the peak migratory season. Birds from as far as the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal, Aral Sea and other remote parts of Russia, Kirghiz steppes of Kazakhstan, Central and southeast Asia, Ladakh and Himalayas come here. These birds travel great distances; migratory birds probably follow much longer routes than the straight lines, possibly up to 12,000 km, to reach Chilika Lake.
context_section_description: Chilika Lake is a shallow bar-built estuary with large areas of mudflats. The western and southern margins of the lake are fringed by the Eastern Ghats hill range.
  Several inland rivers, which bring silt into the lake, control the northern end of the lake. A 60 km (37 mi) long barrier beach called Rejhansa, formed by northerly currents in the Bay of Bengal, resulted in the formation of this shallow lake and forms its eastern side. As an ephemeral lake, its water surface area varies from 1,165 km² (449.8 sq mi) in the summer monsoon season to 906 km² (349.8 sq mi) in the winter dry season.
  The lake has numerous islands. The larger islands, separated by shallow channels, lie between the barrier and the main body of the lake. A total 42 km² (16 sq mi) of channels connect the lake with Bay of Bengal. The six major islands are Parikud, Phulbari, Berahpura, Nuapara, Nalbana, and Tampara. These islands, together with the Peninsula of Malud, constitute the Krishnaprasad Revenue Block of Puri District.
  The north shore of the lake is part of Khordha District and the western shore is part of Ganjam District. Due to siltation, the width of the barrier has fluctuated and the mouth to the sea has periodically been closed. The location of the mouth has also frequently shifted, generally towards the northeast. The mouth, which was 1.5 km (0.9 mi) wide in 1780, was only .75 km (0.5 mi) forty years later. The local fishermen, to maintain their livelihood, had to cut open the mouth regularly to gain access to the sea for fishing.
  Water depth of the lake varies from 0.9 to 2.6 ft (0.3 to 0.8 m) in the dry season to 1.8 to 4.2 m (5.9 to 13.8 ft) in the rainy season. The width of the old channel to the sea, now reported to be about 100 m (330 ft), is known as Magarmukha (Mouth of the Crocodile). The lake is divided into four separate zones namely, the southern, central, northern sectors and the outer channel area. A 32 km (19.9 mi) long outer channel connects the lake with the Bay of Bengal at Arakhuda village. The lake is vaguely pear shaped and has a maximum length of 64.3 km (40.0 mi) with a mean width of 20.1 km (12.5 mi).
caption: Mahanadi River at Cuttack as it trifurcates with one arm feeding the Chilika Lake
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