Lake Alakol, salt lake in Kazakhstan, 110 miles (180 km) east of Lake Balqash, near the border with the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region, China. Lake Alakol has a drainage basin of about 26,500 square miles (68,700 square km). The lake covers an area of 1,025 square miles, reaches a depth of about 148 feet (45 metres), and receives the Urdzhar River (north).