Ogurja Ada

Location of Ogurja Ada.

19th century Russian map of Ogurchinskiy Island

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

Ogurja lies in the Southeastern coastal areas of the Caspian Sea. It is located 17 km SSW off the southern tip of the Cheleken Peninsula.

Ogurja Ada is very long and narrow. It runs from north to south, having a length of 47 km and a maximum width of 3 km it is made up of low sand dunes, mostly covered with grass and bushes.

The island has no permanent settlements owing to lack of fresh water. Between the 15th and the 17th century Ogurchinskiy had been a refuge for pirates and wayfarers and later it became a leper colony.^[1] Administratively Ogurja Ada belongs to the Balkan Province (Balkan Welaýaty) of Turkmenistan.

Ecology

Caspian seals (Pusa caspica) and a number of different marine birds are common on the shores of this long island. Gazelles (jeirans) are also to be found on Ogurja Island. The gazelles are not endemic to the island, but were settled there as part of a natural reserve project during Soviet times when Turkmenistan was part of the USSR. Ogurja Ada is now part of the Hazar Nature Reserve of Turkmenistan.

References

1. ^ Остров Огурчинский «Фамильный сайт Гурчиных»

External links

• Geonames
• Hazar Reserve
• Old map
• Bird life

Coordinates: 38°58′N 53°03′E / 38.97°N 53.05°E / 38.97; 53.05