inland body of salt water in SW Asia, east of the Caspian Sea: slowly decreasing in area, partly from overuse for irrigation: c. 15,500 sq mi (40,145 sq km)
An inland sea lying between southern Kazakhstan and northwest Uzbekistan. Once the fourth-largest inland body of water in the world, it is fast disappearing because of diversion of its two sources, the Amu Darya and the Syr Darya.