| Aral Арал |
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Aral
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| Coordinates: | |
| Country | Kazakhstan |
| Province | Kyzylorda |
| Population | |
| • Total | 39,000 |
Aral, also known as Aralsk or Aral'sk, (Kazakh: Арал, Russian: Аральск) is a small city in south-western Kazakhstan, located in the oblast (region) of Kyzylorda. It serves as the administrative center of Aral District. Population roughly 39,000. Aral was formerly a fishing port and harbour city on the banks of the Aral Sea, and was a major supplier of fish to the neighboring region.
Since the retreat of the Aral Sea since 1960, due to diversion of the rivers flowing into it for irrigation, mainly of cotton, during the Soviet era, Aral is now completely landlocked about 12 km from the northern remnant of the Aral Sea, though this is less than the 100 km distance observed before the completion of a dam in 2005. With the dam in place and the water level in the sea again rising, it is hoped that by 2009 the sea will have come within 6 km of Aral and a canal could be built to the sea. Aral has greatly diminished in population and socioeconomic significance, resulting in high levels of unemployment. For the last 25 years it has not been possible to see the sea from the town. There are also serious health problems for the local population caused by airborne toxic chemicals exposed to the wind by the retreating waters and, possibly, from chemical and biological agents unsafely stored on the island of Vozrozhdeniya.
Contents |
| Climate data for Aral | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | −7 (20) |
−7 (20) |
3 (37) |
14 (58) |
24 (76) |
28 (83) |
32 (89) |
29 (85) |
23 (73) |
13 (55) |
3 (38) |
−6 (21) |
12.5 (55) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −14 (7) |
−16 (4) |
−5 (23) |
4 (39) |
13 (55) |
17 (63) |
20 (68) |
18 (64) |
11 (51) |
3 (38) |
−4 (25) |
−12 (10) |
2.9 (37.3) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 8 (0.3) |
10 (0.4) |
15 (0.6) |
13 (0.5) |
8 (0.3) |
15 (0.6) |
10 (0.4) |
3 (0.1) |
8 (0.3) |
15 (0.6) |
10 (0.4) |
13 (0.5) |
127 (5) |
| Source: Weatherbase [1] | |||||||||||||
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