Ogurja Ada

{{Infobox islands

|name = Ogurchinskiy Island

|local_name = {{langx|tk|Ogurjaly adasy}}

|image_name = Ogurchinsky_caspian.jpg

|image_caption = 19th-century Russian map of Ogurchinskiy Island

|image_size =

| map_image = Caspian5OGU.png

| map_caption = Location of Ogurja Ada in the Caspian Sea

|location = Caspian Sea

|coordinates = {{coord|39|03|39|N|53|02|36|E|display=inline, title}}

|area_km2 = 45

|length_km = 42

|width_km = 1.5

|highest_mount =

|elevation_m =

|population = No permanent residents

|population_as_of =

|density_km2 =

|country = Turkmenistan

|country_admin_divisions_title = Region

|country_admin_divisions = Balkan Province

}}

Ogurja Ada (sometimes also spelt "Ogurga") is the largest island in both Turkmenistan and the Caspian Sea by area. Ogurja Island is also widely known by its Russian name Ogurchinskiy Island (Ostrov Ogurchinskiy).

Geography

Ogurja is a desert island that lies not far from the coast in the southeastern Caspian Sea. It is located 17 km SSW of the southern tip of the Cheleken Peninsula.{{Cite web|url=http://www.geonames.org/advanced-search.html?continentCode=AS&country=&fclass=&q=ostrov|title=GeoNames Fulltextsearch : ostrov|website=www.geonames.org|access-date=2008-06-24|archive-date=2011-05-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110522092706/http://www.geonames.org/advanced-search.html?continentCode=AS&country=&fclass=&q=ostrov|url-status=live}}

Ogurja Ada is very long and narrow. It runs from north to south, having a length of 42 km and a maximum width of 1.5 km. It is made up of low sand dunes, mostly covered with grass and bushes. The northern end, which was formerly a compact mass,{{Cite web |url=http://www.vintage-views.com/eshop/catalog/OGURJA-ADAOGURCHINSKIY-ISLANDCASPIAN-EAST-COAST-p-51371.html |title=Old map |access-date=2008-06-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821140015/http://www.vintage-views.com/eshop/catalog/OGURJA-ADAOGURCHINSKIY-ISLANDCASPIAN-EAST-COAST-p-51371.html |archive-date=2008-08-21 |url-status=dead }} was broken up into smaller islets by wave action.GoogleEarth

The island has no permanent settlements owing to the lack of fresh water. Between the 15th and the 17th centuries, Ogurchinskiy was a refuge for pirates and wayfarers and, later, was a leper colony.{{Cite web|url=http://gurchiny.narod.ru/geography/Goorchin_ostrov.html|title=Ostrov Gurchin, Turkmenistan|website=gurchiny.narod.ru|access-date=2011-04-18|archive-date=2012-05-29|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120529195450/http://gurchiny.narod.ru/geography/Goorchin_ostrov.html|url-status=live}}

Administratively Ogurja Ada belongs to the Balkan Province (Balkan Welaýaty) of Turkmenistan.

Environment

File:Stamps of Turkmenistan, 1993 - Caspian seal (Phoca caspica) on sand, 500.jpg (Pusa caspica)]]

Caspian seals (Pusa caspica) and varied marine birds inhabit the island. Ogurja Ada is part of the Hazar Nature Reserve of Turkmenistan.{{Cite web|url=http://www.turkmenistaninfo.ru/?page_id=6&type=article&elem_id=page_6/magazine_37/306&lang_id=en|title=Archive|website=www.turkmenistaninfo.ru|access-date=2008-06-16|archive-date=2011-07-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110721192331/http://www.turkmenistaninfo.ru/?page_id=6&type=article&elem_id=page_6/magazine_37/306&lang_id=en|url-status=live}}

The island has been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International because it supports breeding colonies of gulls and terns. There is an isolated resident population of Chukar partridge.{{cite web |url= https://datazone.birdlife.org/site/factsheet/22128 |title=Ogurjaly Island|author= |date=2024|website= BirdLife Data Zone|publisher= BirdLife International|access-date= 2024-09-06}}

References

External links

[http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/species/index.html?action=SitHTMDetails.asp&sid=22128&m=0 Bird life]

Category:Islands of the Caspian Sea

Category:Balkan Region

Category:Islands of Turkmenistan

Category:Important Bird Areas of Caspian Sea islands

Category:Important Bird Areas of Turkmenistan