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Uvs Nuur Basin*
UNESCO World Heritage Site
State Party	Mongolia and Russian Federation
Type	Natural
Criteria	ix, x
Reference	769
Region†	Europe and North America
Inscription History
Inscription	2003  (27th Session)
* Name as inscribed on World Heritage List. † Region as classified by UNESCO.

Uvs Nuur (Mongolian: Увс Нуур; Tuvan: Убсу-Нур, Ubsu-Nur, English Lake Uvs) is the largest lake in Mongolia, which, at 753 m above sea level, covers an area of 3,350 km². Its northeastern part is situated in the Tuva Republic of the Russian Federation. The largest settlement on the shore is Ulaangom. This shallow and very saline body of water is the only remainder of a huge saline sea which covered a much larger area several thousand years ago.

A satellite image of the Uvs-Nuur lake basin

The Uvs Nuur Lake is the centre of the Uvs Nuur Basin, which covers an area of 700,000 km² and represents one of the best-preserved natural steppe landscapes of Eurasia. Here the world's most northern desert meets the world's most southern tundra zone.^[1] Apart from the Uvs Nuur, the basin comprises several smaller lakes, notably the Üüreg Nuur Lake, which lies at 1,450 m above sea level. As these lakes lie to the north of other inland seas of Central Asia, they are of key importance for waterfowl migration.

Since the basin spans the geoclimatic boundary between Siberia and Central Asia, temperatures may vary from −58°C in winter to 47°C in summer. Despite its harsh climate, the depression is home to 173 bird species and 41 mammal species, including the globally endangered snow leopard, argali, and Asiatic ibex. The population density is low here. The lack of industry and the reliance of the inhabitants on traditional ways such as nomadic pasturing have little impact on the landscape and allow the ecosystem to remain relatively pristine.^[2]

In 2003, the UNESCO listed the Uvs Nuur Basin as a natural World Heritage Site.^[3] It was nominated as "one of the largest intact watersheds in Central Asia where 40,000 archeological sites can be found from historically famous nomadic tribes such as the Scythians, the Turks and the Huns."^[4] This transboundary patrimony is one of the largest sites inscribed in the World Heritage List to date.

• UNESCO evaluation of the property
• Data summary Uvs Nuur

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Uvs Nuur

• Protected areas of the world Uvs Nuur Basin, Russian Federation (Tuva) & Mongolia
• Natural Heritage Protection Fund - The Uvs Nuur Basin
• Notes on the Cladoceran and Copepod Fauna of the Uvs Nuur Basin (Northwest Mongolia)
• Uvs Lake, Mongolia
• The Ubsunur Hollow
• Ubsu-Nur Accepted into World Network of Biosphere Reserves
• Singing Stones - The Republic of Tuva
• Ubsu Nur satellite photo

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Mongolia
Orkhon Valley Cultural Landscape  · Uvs Nuur Basin (with Russia)

v • d • e World Heritage Sites in Russia

Central Sikhote-Alin · Curonian Spit (with Lithuania) · Ferapontov Monastery · Golden Mountains of Altai · Church of the Ascension, Kolomenskoye · Kazan Kremlin · Kizhi Pogost · Lake Baikal · Citadel, Ancient City and Fortress Buildings of Derbent · Historic Monuments of Novgorod and Surroundings · Moscow Kremlin and Red Square · Ensemble of the Novodevichy Convent · Historic Centre of Saint Petersburg and Related Groups of Monuments · Cultural and Historic Ensemble of the Solovetsky Islands · Struve Geodetic Arc (with nine other countries) · Architectural Ensemble of the Trinity Sergius Lavra in Sergiev Posad · Uvs Nuur Basin (with Mongolia) · Virgin Komi Forests · Volcanoes of Kamchatka · Western Caucasus · White Monuments of Vladimir and Suzdal · Natural System of Wrangel Island Reserve · Historical Centre of the City of Yaroslavl