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Lake Van (Van Gölü) is the largest lake in Turkey and the second largest in the Middle East. The lake is located in the region of eastern Anatolia. It is a saline and soda lake, receiving water from numerous small streams that descend from the surrounding mountains. Lake Van is one of the world's largest endorheic lakes (having no outlet). The original outlet from the basin was blocked by an ancient volcanic eruption during the Pleistocene, when lava flows from Nemrut volcano blocked westward outflow towards the Mu? Plain. Now dormant, Nemrut Da?? is close to the western shore of the lake while and another dormant stratovolcano, Süphan Da?? dominates the northern side of the lake. Lake Van covers an area of 3713 km² ,I s more than 119 km across at its widest point and is 1640 metres above sea level.
150 km from Van (city) is Nemrud Mountain (not to be confused with Nemrut Dagi in Adiyaman) rising above Tatvan on the south westen edge of Lake Van. The highest peak of the mountain stands at 3050 meters and is one of the largest complete calderas in the world. The volcanic cone was belived to have originally been higher. It was at 4450 meter before its eruption. The last time it was active was in 1440 BC. There are five lakes within the crater, and the largest two, which we will visit, are wonderfully different. The Cold Lake (13 sq.kms) has an average depth of 100 meters, where its deepest point is at 155 m. The Hot Lake has a visible amount of steam rising from its thermal springs. The heat may reach up to 60 degrees centigrade :
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