Iskanderkul — a mountain lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

 of glacial origin in Tajikistan

Tajikistan

Tajikistan , officially the Republic of Tajikistan , is a mountainous landlocked country in Central Asia. Afghanistan borders it to the south, Uzbekistan to the west, Kyrgyzstan to the north, and China to the east....

's Sughd Province. Located at an altitude of 2,195 m on the northern slopes of Gissar Range

Gissar Range

Gissar Range is a mountain range in Central Asia, in the western part of the Pamir-Alay system, stretching over 200 km in the general east-west direction across the territory of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan...

 in the Fann Mountains

Fann Mountains

Fann Mountains are part of the western Pamir-Alay mountain system and are located in Tajikistan's Sughd Province between the Zeravshan Range to the north and the Gissar Range to the south...

. Triangular in shape, it has a surface area of 3.4 km² and is up to 72 m deep. One of the most beautiful mountain lakes in all of the former Soviet Union, a popular tourist attraction.

The lake takes its name from Alexander the Great: Iskander is the Central Asian pronunciation of Alexander, and kul is lake in Tajik

Tajik language

Tajik, Tajik Persian, or Tajiki, is a variety of modern Persian spoken in Central Asia. Historically Tajiks called their language zabani farsī , meaning Persian language in English; the term zabani tajikī, or Tajik language, was introduced in the 20th century by the Soviets...

, which is of Uzbek

Uzbek language

Uzbek is a Turkic language and the official language of Uzbekistan. It has about 25.5 million native speakers, and it is spoken by the Uzbeks in Uzbekistan and elsewhere in Central Asia...

origin.