Kulunda

an urban-type settlement, administrative center of Kulunda Raion, Altai Krai, RSFSR. A railroad junction for the Tatarskaia-Malinovoe Ozero and Pavlodar-Barnaul lines, 343 km southwest of Barnaul. Population, 15,000 (1971). Kulunda has a canned-milk combine, a factory producing prefabricated reinforced-concrete structural elements, a confectionery plant, and railroad transport enterprises. Deposits of mirabilite are found in the lakes near Kulunda.

a river in Altai Krai, RSFSR; empties into Lake Kulunda. Length, 412 km; basin area, 12,400 sq km. The Kulunda rises in the Ob’ Plateau and then flows along the Kulunda Steppe. It is fed by snow water. The average flow rate at the mouth is 5.1 cu m per sec; maximum rate is 336 cu m per sec and minimum, 0.036 cu m per sec. Some years the Kulunda freezes over for 45-100 days. Baevo, a raion center, is located on the Kulunda River.

a bitter salt lake within the Kulunda Steppe, Altai Krai, RSFSR. Area, 728 sq km (with Lake Kuchuk, 800 sq km). It is located at an elevation of 98 m. Depth reaches 4 m. The banks on the north and west are steep, and the eastern ones are gently sloping. There are many islands in the eastern part of Lake Kulunda. The lake’s principal source is snow water. It does not freeze over in the winter. The Kulunda and Suetka rivers empty into the lake and it is connected to Lake Kuchuk by a channel. Lake Kulunda contains reserves of mirabilite.