section_path: Hydrology/Lakes
section_name: Lakes
paragraph_text: Lakes
  
  The Himalayan region is dotted with hundreds of lakes. Pangong Tso, which is spread across the border between India and China, at the far western end of Tibet, is among the largest with a surface area of 700 km (270 sq mi).
  
  South of the main range, the lakes are smaller. Tilicho Lake in Nepal, in the Annapurna massif, is one of the highest lakes in the world. Other lakes include Rara Lake in western Nepal, She-Phoksundo Lake in the Shey Phoksundo National Park of Nepal, Gurudongmar Lake, in North Sikkim, Gokyo Lakes in Solukhumbu district of Nepal, and Lake Tsongmo, near the Indo-China border in Sikkim.
  
  Some of the lakes present the danger of a glacial lake outburst flood. The Tsho Rolpa glacier lake in the Rowaling Valley, in the Dolakha District of Nepal, is rated as the most dangerous. The lake, which is located at an altitude of 4,580 m (15,030 ft), has grown considerably over the last 50 years due to glacial melting. The mountain lakes are known to geographers as tarns if they are caused by glacial activity. Tarns are found mostly in the upper reaches of the Himalaya, above 5,500 m (18,000 ft).
  
  Temperate Himalayan wetlands provide important habitat and layover sites for migratory birds. Many mid and low altitude lakes remain poorly studied in terms of their hydrology and biodiversity, like Khecheopalri in the Sikkim Eastern Himalayas.