Lake Uromiyeh (5000 km2) is a vast hypersaline lake in NW Iran, shared between the provinces of East and West Azerbaijan. It lies at the lowest point within a closed drainage basin of about 52000 km2, a smaller part of which lies in the Kordistan province. The Lake is a National Park, is the largest inland lake in Iran, is one of the largest Iranian Ramsar Sites, and in 1976 was recognized by UNESCO as a Biosphere Reserve. The Lake is surrounded by a number of important freshwater-brackish satellite wetlands, several of which are also of global significance for their biodiversity
This report compiles existing information on Lake Uromiyeh Wetland to describe in brief the ecological attributes of the Lake and some of its satellite wetlands, and to present an overview of the general conditions of its vast watershed area. The report provides a concise baseline of the environmental status of the Lake at the time of the UNDP/ GEF/ DOE Conservation of Iranian Wetlands Project, although in few cases access to the latest information was not possible.