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Khanka (Xingkai)
General Information
| Description |
Lake Xingkai/Khanka is located on the border of the People’s Republic of China (China) and the Russian Federation (Russia). It is the largest lake in Northeast Asia, as well as a transboundary waterbody between China and Russia. The lake is called Lake Xingkai in China and Khanka Lake in Russia. |
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| Country |
China
Russian Federation
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| Latitude |
45° 0' 0"
(45.0000) |
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| Longitude |
132° 25'
0" (132.4167) |
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| State |
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| River Basin |
Amur
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Maps
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Khanka global index map (LakeNet Explorer)
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Khanka (Xinghai) locator map |
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Lake Basin Management Initiative (LakeNet Explorer)
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Physical Characteristics
| Description |
The Lake Xingkai/Khanka drainage basin covers about 16,890km2 (without water plane), with
about 97% of the drainage basin being in Russian. The water plane of the lake varies between
4,000-4,400km2. The average lake depth and volume is 4.5m and 18.3km3, respectively. The
maximum lake depth and volume is 10.6m and 22.6km3, respectively. There are 23 inflowing rivers to the lake, 8 draining from China and 15 draining from Russia. The Song’acha River is the only outflow river from the lake, and is subsequently connected with the Wusuli/Ussuri River and the Heilong/Amur River system. The drainage basin of Lake Xingkai/Khanka is a habitat for important animal and plant species of both countries, particularly the wetlands surrounding the lake. The Russian Federation designated the lake as a Ramsar Convention wetland site, on the basis of its importance for migratory bird species.
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| Volume |
18.30 km3 |
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| Surface Area |
4,400.00 km2 |
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| Depth |
Mean depth: 4.5 m
Maximum depth: 10.6 m
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| Residence Time |
1.0 years |
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| Trophic State |
Eutrophic |
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| Type |
Fresh
Permanent
Natural
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| Catchment |
Catchment size: 16,890.00
km2
Catchment/surface area ratio: 4:1 |
Socio-Political
| Economic Value |
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| Major Cities |
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| Population |
345,500 (1998) |
Watershed Management
| Description |
Lake Xingkai/Khankai natural Reserve has already been brought into an integral strategic system for ecological protection of China, Russia and the whole world. It first signed the word’s wetland protection convention, then signed the Agreement on Lake Xingkai/Khanka in 22nd, April 1996 in Beijing. In 7th March 1997, it was approved to enter into the northeastern crane network. In 1998 it is listed into one of the demonstration engineering regions for biodiversity protection and sustainable utilization of in Chinese wetland by the GEF project.
Chinese side.
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| Watershed Action Plan |
In development |
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| Issues |
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| Other Issues |
Biodiversity Conservation
Erosion
Nutrient pollution
Polluted runoff
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| Monitoring |
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Biodiversity Conservation
| Description |
The drainage basin of Lake Xingkai/Khanka is a habitat for important animal and plant species of both countries, particularly the wetlands surrounding the lake. The Russian Federation designated the lake as a Ramsar Convention wetland site, on the basis of its importance for migratory bird species.
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| Designations |
LakeNet Biodiversity Priority
National Designation
Ramsar Site
WWF Global 200
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| Ramsar Site Name |
Xingkai Lake National Nature Reserve |
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| Ramsar Designations |
1, 2, 4, 5
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| Species of Concern |
Red List and nationally protected bird species found within the Ramsar site include Grus japonensis, G. vipio, Ciconia boyciana, Haliaeetus albialla and Egretta eulophotes. |
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Organizations
LakeNet Programs
Documents
Resources
News
Additional Data Sources
| • |
Birkett, C., and I. Mason. 1995. A new global lakes database for remote sensing programme studying climatically sensitive large lakes. Journal of Great Lakes Research, 21 (3) 307-318. |
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| • |
Duker, L. and L. Borre. 2001. Biodiversity conservation of the world's lakes: a preliminary framework for identifying priorities. LakeNet Report Series Number 2. Annapolis, Maryland USA. |
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| • |
International Lake Environment Committee, the United Nations Environment Program and Environment Agency, Government of Japan. 1997. World Lakes Database. |
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