The Aral Sea is a saltwater body in central Asia. It is
bordered by Kazakhstan in the north and Uzbekistan
in the south. The Aral Sea once covered an area of
68,000 square kilometres. However, it started to
shrink during the second half of the 1900s, as most
of the inflowing river water was used for irrigation
before it reached the sea. The sea also loses water
through evaporation. ---- The Aral has therefore
shrunk drastically in its area and volume. By the end
of the 1900s, the Aral Sea had lost so much water
that the exposed land divided the sea into three
separate parts.