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Photo: Владимир Рябцев · CC BY 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
Protected area
Bogdinsko-Baskunchakski Nature Reserve is a Russian 'zapovednik' in a semi-arid area around two notable features: Lake Baskunchak, Russia's largest undrained salt lake, and Big Bogdo Mountain, the highest point in the Caspian Depression and home to the "singing rocks". It is about halfway between Volgograd and Astrakhan, placing it about 200 km north of the Volga River Delta, where the river enters the Caspian Sea from the northwest. About 20 km east of the lake is the border with Kazakhstan. Baskunchak has been a source of salt to Russia for centuries. The reserve is an important site on the bird migration route between northern Siberia and wintering regions. The reserve is situated in the Akhtubinsky District of Astrakhan Oblast.