Formerly one of the four largest lakes in the world with an area of 68.00 squere kilometres, the Aral Sea is steadily shrinking since 1960. In 2007 it had declined to 10% of its originel size.
Moynaq was once a busting fishing community. Now the Aral Sea is more than 100 km from the former cityport. The Aral Sea has dried up. This is because of the regional agriculture monoculture of cotton production wich diverts water from the Amurdarja and Sydarja.