Kachchh, Rann of

or Rann of Kutch

Large salt marsh, west-central India and southern Pakistan.

The northern portion, Great Rann, occupies an area of 7,000 sq mi (18,000 sq km) in Gujarat state, India. The eastern section, Little Rann, occupies 2,000 sq mi (5,100 sq km) of Gujarat. Originally an extension of the Arabian Sea, it has been closed off by centuries of silting. A 1965 dispute between India and Pakistan over the boundary line of Great Rann ended when an international tribunal awarded about 10% of the border area to Pakistan and the remainder to India.

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▪ mud flats, Asia

Kachchh also spelled  Kutch,  Cutch , or  Kachh 

      saline mudflats, west-central India and southern Pakistan. The Great Rann covers an area of about 7,000 square miles (18,000 square km) and lies almost entirely within Gujarāt state, India, along the border with Pakistan. The Little Rann of Kachchh extends northeast from the Gulf of Kachchh and occupies about 2,000 square miles (5,100 square km) in Gujarāt state. Originally an extension of the Arabian Sea, the Rann of Kachchh has been closed off by centuries of silting. During the time of Alexander the Great it was a navigable lake, but it is now an extensive mudflat, inundated during monsoon seasons. Settlement is limited to low, isolated hills.

      In 1965 a dispute arose over the India- (India)Pakistan boundary line toward the western end of the Great Rann. Fighting broke out in April and ended only when Great Britain intervened to secure a cease-fire. On the report of the United Nations secretary-general to the Security Council, the dispute was referred to an international tribunal, which in 1968 awarded about 10 percent of the border area to Pakistan and about 90 percent to India; the partition was effected in 1969.

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