Revision 42260510 of "Vozrozhdeniya Penninsula" on enwiki

[[Image:Vozrozhdeniya Island.jpg|thumb|225px|Vozrozhdeniya Island from space, November 1994]]
[[Image:Vozrozhdeniya-topo.jpg|thumb|225px|Vozrozhdeniya Island topographic map, 1984]]

'''Renaissance Island''' ([[Russian language|Russian]]: '''Остров Возрождения''') is a former island, now a [[peninsula]], in the [[Aral Sea]].  It became a peninsula between [[2000]] and [[2001]], due to ongoing shrinkage of the Aral Sea. [http://visibleearth.nasa.gov/view_rec.php?id=4343] It is now shared by [[Kazakhstan]] and [[Uzbekistan]].

Located in the central Aral Sea ({{coor dm|45|0|N|59|10|E|}}), Vozrozhdeniya Island was one of the main laboratories and testing sites for the [[Soviet Union]] government’s Microbiological Warfare Group. In [[1948]], a top-secret Soviet [[bioweapons]] laboratory was established here. It was here, according to just released documents, that the [[anthrax]] [[spore]]s and the [[pandemic|plague]] [[bacillus|bacilli]] were  developed and stored. The main town on the island was [[Kantubek]], which lies in ruins today, but once had approximately 1,500 inhabitants.

The laboratory staff members abandoned the island in late [[1991]]. Many of the containers holding the spores were not properly stored or destroyed, and over the last decade many of the containers have developed leaks. As the Aral Sea continues to recede, the area will eventually connect further with the surrounding land. Many scientists fear that [[reptiles]], including [[snakes]], will move to the surrounding land and eventually carry these deadly biological agents out.

The Pentagon sent a team of 113 people to the island to neutralize between 100 and 200 tons of anthrax in [[2002]]. 

==See also==
[[Kantubek]]

==References==
*[http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/Newsroom/NewImages/images.php3?img_id=5108 Rebirth Island joins the mainland]
*[http://www.nasa.gov National Aeronautics and Space Administration]

<!--for Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan-->

[[Category:Geography of Uzbekistan]]
[[Category:Geography of Kazakhstan]]
[[Category:Islands]]
[[Category:Aral Sea]]
[[Category:Military of the Soviet Union]]

[[ja:ヴォズロジデニヤ島]]