Lake Karakul or "Black Lake" is located in the high and dry Pamir Mountains in Tajikistan, within the Tajik National Park, in one of the most beautiful and remote location in Central Asia. It is a deep brackish-water lake lying in a closed basin at an altitude of 3,900 meters above sea level. Surrounded by high mountains which block humid air masses, the valley receives less than 30 mm of precipitation a year making it one of the driest places in Central Asia. Between October to May the lake is entirely frozen and forms a white expanse when viewed from Karakul village where a small community of Kyrgyz people survive through nomadic herding of yaks, sheep and goats.