Lake Manych

Lake Manych lies in the low depression that separates the northern Caucasian foothills from the steppe to the north. Its shallow waters occupy a broad basin in a dry country of salt marshes and grassland. The Manych depression preserves traces of an ancient connection between the Black and Caspian seas; the lake's salinity varies as water levels change. Islands and marshy shores provide resting and nesting places for waterbirds crossing the open steppe.