Lake Khanka

Lake Khanka
Landsat 7 image (2001)
Location	Primorsky Krai, Russia / Heilongjiang, China
Coordinates
Primary outflows	Songacha River
Basin countries	People's Republic of China, Russia
Max. length	90 km (56 mi)
Max. width	45 km (28 mi)
Surface area	4,070 km2 (1,570 sq mi)
Average depth	4.5 m (15 ft)
Max. depth	10.6 m (35 ft)
Water volume	18.3 km3 (4.4 cu mi)
Residence time	9.9 yrs
Shore length1	308 km (191 mi)
Surface elevation	68 m (223 ft) - 70 m (230 ft)
Frozen	December–April
Ramsar Wetland
Designated	October 12, 1974
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Khanka (Russian: о́зеро Ха́нка; simplified Chinese: 兴凯湖; traditional Chinese: 興凱湖; pinyin: Xīngkǎi Hú, also known as Lake Xingkai), is a freshwater lake located on the border between Primorsky Krai, Russia and Heilongjiang province, Northeast China (at ). At its closest point, it is situated 79 kilometres (49 mi) east of the city of Jixi, Heilongjiang. The area of the lake is 4,190 square kilometres (1,620 sq mi), of which 3,030 km² (1,170 sq mi) (72%) is located in Russia and 1,160 km² (450 sq mi) (28%) in China.

Physical data

The north side of Lake Khanka in China

The lake's drainage basin covers an area of 16,890 square kilometres (6,520 sq mi), of which 97% is in Russian territory. It has 4,000 to 4,400 km² (1,500 to 1,700 sq mi) of water surface area. It is fed by 23 rivers (8 in China and 15 in Russia), but the only outflow of the lake is the Songacha River.

The lake's average depth is 4.5 metres (15 ft), while its maximum depth is 10.6 m (35 ft). Its average volume is 18.3 cubic kilometres (4.4 cu mi), though it can fill up to 22.6 km³ (5.4 cu mi). The lake belongs to the Ussuri River System, which is part of Amur River System. The maximum monthly mean temperature is 21.2 °C (70.2 °F) (July), while the minimum monthly mean temperature is −19.2 °C (−2.6 °F). Rainfall mainly occurs in summer, reaching 750 millimetres (30 in) annually.

The residence time of Lake Khanka is 9.9 years.

Biodiversity and environment

The lake is an important area for birds, and includes a number of endangered species.