Lake Chungará

Lake Chungará
Lake Chungará
	Lake and Parinacota Volcano
Location	Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile
Coordinates	18°15′S 69°09′W / 18.250°S 69.150°WCoordinates: 18°15′S 69°09′W / 18.250°S 69.150°W
Lake type	Natural
Primary inflows	Chungará, Sopocalane
Basin countries	Chile
Surface area	21.5 km2 (8.3 sq mi)
Average depth	33 m (108 ft)
Surface elevation	4,517 m (14,820 ft)
Islands	none
Settlements	none

Lake Chungará (from Aymara: chunkara "moss on the stone") is a lake in the extreme north of Chile, in the Altiplano of the Arica y Parinacota region. It is the 29th highest lake in the world (and the 10th highest in South America).^[1]

The lake is near the volcanos Parinacota (6,342 m [20,807 ft]) and Pomerape (6,222 m [20,413 ft]). It is part of the Lauca National Park, in the Putre comuna. The lake is at about 54 km (34 mi) to the east of the town of Putre and about 9 km (5.6 mi) to the west of the border with Bolivia.

In the lake and streams nearby, there are some small fish that are endemic to the lake basin: pencil catfish, Trichomycterus chungaraensis,^[2] and Orestias chungarensis.^[3]

Llamas and alpacas at Chungará Lake
Parinacota Volcano and Lake Chungará
Morning on Chungará Lake.

Lake Chungará Media

The marina of Chungará Lake
Road and roadsign on Chungará Lake
A truck heading to Bolivia past snow-capped volcano Parinacota (6,348 m/20,827 ft) and Lake Chungará (Lago Chungará), one of the highest lakes in the world at around 4,500 m (14,800 ft), in Lauca National Park (Parque Nacional Lauca).*On Google Earth: Lake Changará 18°14'52.05"S, 69° 9'28.42"W
Birdlife, including Chilean flamingo, at Chungará Lake
Shoreline vegetation and landscape