Lake Zorkul extends east to west for about 25 km (16 mi). The Afghanistan–Tajikistan border runs along the lake from east to west, turning south towards Concord Peak (5,469 m (17,943 ft)), about 15 km (9.3 mi) south of the lake. The lake's northern part lies in Gorno-Badakhshan where it is protected as part of the Zorkul Nature Reserve. Out of the lake, towards the west, flows the Pamir River, tracing the Afghan–Tajik border. It is therefore a source of the Amu Darya (Amu River). The Great Pamir extends to the south of the lake.[3][4]
The lake is on the path of the Silk Road. It was referred to as "Great Dragon Pool" (Chinese: 大龍池) in Chinese historical records.[5]
The territory was conquered by Ahmad Shah Durrani in 1750 and became part of the Durrani Empire. The lake and river were established in 1895 as the new frontier between the Russian Empire and the Emirate of Afghanistan. A general treaty of friendship was signed between the two powers, agreeing that the lake area would be a nature reserve, and that neither empires will post national or international military forces within a certain distance of the frontier, nor establish settled communities in the area.[6]
Although there is a probable reference to the lake in Marco Polo's account,[7] the first European known to have visited the lake was the British naval officer John Wood in 1838.[8] Sir-i-kol became known to the British as Lake Victoria, after the British queen, although Wood declined to name it so.[9] It was also known as "Lake Victoria in the Pamirs" to distinguish it from the much larger Lake Victoria in Africa.[10][11]
^Shahrani, M. Nazif. (1979) The Kirghiz and Wakhi of Afghanistan: Adaptation to Closed Frontiers and War University of Washington Press, Seattle, ISBN0-295-95669-0; 1st paperback edition with new preface and epilogue (2002), ISBN0-295-98262-4 p.37
^The Travels of Marco Polo, Book 1, Chapter 32: "Of the Great River of Badahshan; and the Plain of Pamier" (...you find a great lake between two mountains, and out of it a fine river running through a plain). Retrieved on 6 May 2009
