Once the world's fourth largest lake, the Aral Sea is today largely dried up, leaving behind a sandy desert. A remarkable discovery awaits on a journey through Ouzbékistan.

A Brief History

Shared between Kazakhstan to the north and Ouzbékistan to the south, the Aral Sea was once an immense natural water reservoir in Central Asia. Yet today, almost nothing remains. What happened? During the Soviet era, the two rivers that fed the sea—the Syr Darya and the Amu Darya—were massively diverted to irrigate the region's enormous cotton crops, without consideration for the environmental consequences. This decision elevated Ouzbékistan to the world's leading cotton producer.

Since 1960, the sea has lost 75 percent of its surface area and 90 percent of its volume. Its name, "Aral,