[custom_adv] Lake Urmia is an endorheic salt lake. The lake is between the provinces of East Azerbaijan and West Azerbaijan, and west of the southern portion of the Caspian Sea. [custom_adv] At its greatest extent, it was the largest lake in the Middle East and the sixth-largest saltwater lake on Earth, with a surface area of approximately 5,200 km2 (2,000 sq mi), a length of 140 km (87 mi), a width of 55 km (34 mi), and a maximum depth of 16 m (52 ft). [custom_adv] The lake has shrunk to 10% of its former size due to damming of the rivers that flow into it, and the pumping of groundwater from the surrounding area. Lake Urmia, along with its once approximately 102 islands, is protected as a national park by the Department of Environment. [custom_adv] Currently, the lake is named after the provincial capital city of Urmia, originally an Assyrian name meaning puddle of water. Its Old name was Chichast, meaning "glittering", a reference to the glittering mineral particles suspended in the water of the lake and found along its shores. [custom_adv] In medieval times it came to be known as Lake Kabuda (Kabodan), from the word for "azure" , or 'կապույտ' (kapuyt) in Armenian. Its Latin name was Lacus Matianus, so it is referred to in some texts as Lake Matianus or Lake Matiene. [custom_adv] The Lake Urmia region has a wealth of archaeological sites going back to the Neolithic period. Archaeological excavations of the settlements in the area have found artifacts that date from about 7,000 BCE and later. [custom_adv] Excavations at Teppe Hasanlu archeological site southwest of Lake Urmia also revealed habitations going back to the 6th millennium BC. A related site is Yanik Tepe, on the east shore of Lake Urmia, that has been excavated in the 1950s and 60s by C. A. Burney. [custom_adv] Another important site in the area, from about the same era, is Hajji Firuz Tepe, where some of the oldest archaeological evidence of grape-based wine was discovered. [custom_adv] Se Girdan kurgans are located on the south shore of Lake Urmia. Some of them were excavated in 1968 and 1970 by O. Muscarella. They have now been redated to the second half of the 4th millennium, although originally they were thought to be much younger.
