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Landsat 7 image (2001)
|Location||Primorsky Krai, Russia / Heilongjiang, China|
|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)|
|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.
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.
Biodiversity and environment
The lake is an important area for birds, and includes a number of endangered species.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lake Khanka.|
- "Experience and Lessons Learned Brief for Lake Xingkai/Khanka" (PDF). Jin Xiangcan, Jiang Xia, Status and Prospects of the Russian-Chinese Cooperation in Environment Conservation and Water Management (Materials of the international conference, Moscow, MNR of Russia, 2007): 84.
- "Ramsar List". Ramsar.org. Retrieved 13 April 2013.
- "Lake Profile: Khanka (Xingkai)". LakeNet. Retrieved 11 November 2012.
- "Lake Khanka". Russian Federation 2RU003. wetlands.org. Retrieved 26 December 2012.