History of the Aral Sea

In Old Turkic the word aral means "island" and the name Aral Sea roughly translates to "Sea of Islands". Before disaster struck the Aral Sea it was known for the thousands of small islands that dotted it. The Aral Sea was believed to have been formed 5.5 million years ago after a fall in sea level and the rise of the Elburz and Caucasus mountain ranges. Two rivers, the Syr Darya and Amu Darya, began to flow into the Aral Sea from the east. These rivers, Syr Darya (north) and Amu Darya (south) are critical to feeding the Aral Sea and are key to understanding the root of the Aral Sea Disaster.