Just over 50 years ago, the Aral Sea was one of the largest lakes in the world. However, due to man-made and possibly natural factors, it lost more than 90% of its original area, leaving a desert landscape and the population on the brink of survival.
The Aral issue dates back over 100 years. When Uzbekistan became part of the USSR, large-scale cotton cultivation began. However, the region itself is deserted. There are few large bodies of water. Irrigation canals were built without proper waterproofing, leading to the gradual shallowing of the rivers and the sea. Environmentalists first sounded the alarm in the 1980s, but the USSR was going through significant changes, and no one cared about the Aral Sea back then.
Over time the sea split into two parts: the Northern (Small) and Southern (Big) Arals. The northern part is a former bay in Kazakhstani territory. It was separated from the rapidly shallowing Southern Aral by a dam after the USSR's collapse. Since the Small Aral is fed by the waters of the Syrdarya River, its salinity has begun to decrease over time. This allowed the fishery to be restored. However, the Amu Darya River stopped reaching the Southern Sea. So the Southern Aral, primarily situated in Uzbekistan, continues to dry up.
There is a small museum of the history of the Aral Sea in the semi-abandoned town of Moynaq. Several ships that once docked there now sit nearby in the midst of a desert. Locals call the desert Aralkum, by analogy with Karakum and Kyzylkum. It takes 4 hours to get to the coast by jeep.
During the Soviet era, Moynaq had a major fish canning plant, one of the nation's largest. Now there is nothing left. The streets are nearly deserted, except for the central one. The wind blows endless dust through the ghost town. According to the estimates, there are up to 18 000 residents in Moynaq, but in reality, many have left Uzbekistan for work elsewhere. The town airport was closed due to a lack of passengers.
The sea's recession turned the Republic of Karakalpakstan, home to the Southern Aral Sea, into one of Uzbekistan's poorest regions. The reason is the climate; it's very dry, and the soil has high salinity. Besides, big deposits of pesticides and other toxic chemicals accumulated at the bottom of the sea during the Soviet era. Today, people are breathing them, which leads to various diseases, including oncology.
The Amu Darya water is of poor quality. The tap water is cloudy and udrinkable. Several centimetres of dirt sludge down the bottom of the jar after a while. Locals must either filter or boil it to be able to drink it, or better yet, buy imported water. Tórtkúll, a town in Karakalpakstan, hosts a large water purification plant, built by the Americans, but the degree of purification is low there, as locals say.
Uzbek oil and gas companies have taken advantage of the situation by drilling on the former Aral Sea bed. It’s easier than drilling underwater. “Much of the revenue flows to Tashkent and is distributed there. They don’t give much to us, Karakalpaks,” the residents say.
The sea continues to recede by about 20–30 meters annually. Despite that, many Uzbek maps still depict the Aral Sea at its Soviet size. As if nothing had happened. This suggests that the topic is somewhat tabooed by Uzbekistani authorities. It is known that the police detained a Japanese photographer, taking pictures on the bridge over the extremely shallow Amu Darya, and asked him to delete the photographs.
The Aral region is fraught with prohibitions. Biological weapons were tested on one of the islands under the USSR. Two years ago, that place was razed to the ground by order of the Ministry of Defence of Uzbekistan, since it was visited by various urban “stalkers”. Not far away in Ústirt was the area of chemical weapons testing in the 1980s, including, according to locals, the notorious Novichok.
The political economy of the Big Aral has changed, with gas production being just one aspect. The salinity of the water is about 150–160 grammes per litre. It is two times lower than the Dead Sea's salinity but still inhospitable to fish. However, some microalgae and plankton species persist. The Artemia crustacean eggs are harvested on an industrial scale. This is a popular food for breeding fish in artificial reservoirs as well as for aquarium fish. Artemia is also sold to the Chinese, who use it in perfumery. Several companies representatives purchasing such biomaterials constantly work in Tashkent.
Karakalpaks, though, are a simple workforce. There was an uprising in Nókis, the capital of Karakalpakstan, in 2022, protesting against Uzbekistan's autonomy policy. Since then, the centre of Nókis has been renovated, but most of the peripheral areas remain impoverished slums.
A view of the drying Aral Sea from the plane
A man is looking at the desert where the sea used to be
The cemetery of ships in the town of Moynaq which was once a major port Now there s a desert and one needs a 4-hour drive to get to the seashore
Clay on the shore of the Aral Sea The salinity of the water is about 150-160 g l which is two times lower than the Dead Sea in Israel so some types of microalgae and plankton are still preserved But the fish in such water no longer survives
A blind woman in Moynaq In Soviet times the was a fish cannery one of the largest in the country There s nothing left of it now The streets except for the central one are almost empty A ghost town with endless dust blowing in the streets According to various estimates up to 18 thousand people live in Moynaq but in fact many have left to work outside Uzbekistan The airport in the town has closed there are not enough passengers
Mizdakhan the old Karakalpak cemetery Mortality from diseases in this region is the highest in Uzbekistan
Workers on the shore of the Southern Aral are building a base for tourists who want to see the remains of the legendary sea and an ecological disaster There are few tourists but they come from all over the world Local residents earn good money by trucking guests here from the cities of N kis and Urgench They charge from 200 to 600 for such a road which is a lot of money by local standards But many Karakalpaks have no other sources of income br
The Amu Darya was the most full-flowing river in Central Asia and now in the lower reaches it has turned almost into a stream The problem is in deforestation along the banks as well as in active land reclamation both Uzbekistan and especially Turkmenistan upstream take a lot of water into channels and ditches There are no other natural water sources here
Popular Fish House cafe on the outskirts of N kis on the bank of the almost dried-up Amu Darya once the great river of Central Asia People come here from all over N kis Fish are no longer caught in the shallow dirty river but bred in ponds the locals are used to live near the water and cannot refuse fish dishes
There are constant dust storms in Karakalpakstan the wind carries salt and sand from the former seabed This suspension also contains many harmful chemicals used in irrigation of cotton fields in the USSR
The view of the Southern Aral
In N kis the capital of Karakalpakstan strong unrest against Uzbekistan s policy towards autonomy took place in 2022 After that the center of N kis was renovated but most of the streets on the outskirts are still slums
