India's largest freshwater lake, 18,900 hectares on the Ramsar list: Wular, in the valley whose visitor figures are in the news

Background

The Kashmir valley's visitor figures were placed before the Legislative Assembly this week, and its largest water body is a wetland of international importance. Wular Lake is Ramsar site number 461. It was designated on 23 March 1990 and covers 18,900 hectares in Jammu and Kashmir. The Ramsar record calls it the largest freshwater lake in India, with extensive emergent and floating marshes, especially of water chestnut. Its coordinates are given as 34 degrees 16 minutes north and 74 degrees 33 minutes east. A Ramsar site is a wetland listed under the Convention on Wetlands, to which India is a party.