Administratively the lake falls within the limits of Slavgorod and Yarovoye municipalities, as well as Tabunsky District.

The western shore lies barely 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) to the east of the Kazakhstan–Russia border.

[3] At the time of the USSR the Altaikhimprom company extracted bromine from the brine of the lake.

Bolshoye Yarovoye has an oval shape, roughly oriented from north to south.

In snowy or rainy years, its surface area may reach 70 square kilometers (27 sq mi), sinking to 53 square kilometers (20 sq mi) during periods of drought.