Lake Shira

Lake Shira is a meromictic lake, located in the Republic of Khakassia, Russia. The lake covers an area of 39.5 km2 in a steppe landscape in the Minusinsk Hollow, a relatively flat intermountain area 160 km northwest of the city of Abakan. The village for which it is named, Shira, is 12 kilometers to the west. The southern and western shores feature beaches popular for local recreation, and spas that take advantage of the mineral water. Lake Shira is a salt lake with a high magnesium content. It has one small river providing inflow, but no outflow, although geographically the lake is in the Yenisei River basin. The northern shore is protected by the Khakasski Nature Reserve.