Urmia, Lake

Urmia, Lake ûrˈmēə [key], formerly Lake Rezaiyeh, shallow salt lake, NW Iran; alt. 4,180 ft (1,275 m). The largest lake in Iran, it has no outlet and receives the drainage of the surrounding mountains. Roughly 2,000 sq mi (5,000 sq km) in area and c.90 mi (140 km) long and 50 mi (80 km) wide in the mid-20th cent., it had been reduced by 2015 to a third of its former size due to drought and the damming and use of the water of its feeder rivers. A causeway and bridge connecting the cities of Urmia and Tabriz crosses the lake.

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