10 Largest Lakes In The World And Facts About Them

Although Earth is abundant in water, more than 95% of it is present in the seas and oceans. It implies that less than 5% freshwater is available to us; most of which is kind of locked in the Antarctic and Arctic. Rivers and lakes are thus are best sources of freshwater and must be preserved at any cost. With this though in mind we look at the 10 largest lakes in the world by volume of water and learn about them through interesting facts.

Watch the video below or follow the detailed article ahead.


#10 Great Slave Lake

Volume By Water:2,100 cubic kilometers
Location:Canada

Facts:-

a) Deepest lake in North and South America at 614 meters max depth

b) Icebound for 8 months in a year


#9 Great Bear Lake

Volume By Water:2,225 cubic kilometers
Location:Canada

Facts:-

a) It has five great arms: Keith, McVicar, McTavish, Dease and Smith

b) Lake is icebound for 8 months in an year


#8 Lake Victoria

Also Known As:Nam Lolwe
Volume By Water:2750 cubic kilometers
Location:In and around Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda in Africa

Facts:-

a) Largest lake by area in Africa

b) Second largest freshwater lake in the world by area

c) Shallow lake with average depth of 40 meters and max depth of 83 meters

d) Supports Africa’s largest inland fishery


#7 Lake Huron

Volume By Water:3500 cubic kilometers
Location:Between United States and Canada

Facts:-

a) Manitoulin Island in this lake is the largest freshwater island in the world

b) Contains the Georgian Bay which is large enough to be among the world’s 20 largest lakes.

North America's Great Lakes
North America’s Great Lakes

#6 Lake Michigan

Also Known As:Mishigami or great water
Volume By Water:4900 cubic kilometers
Location:United States

Facts:-

a) Largest lake by area entirely within one country

b) The Lake has a cul-de-sac formation meaning that water entering the lake circulates slowly and remains for a long time before it leaves the basin

c) Worlds largest freshwater beaches


#5 Lake Vostok

Also Known As:Lake East
Volume By Water:5,400 ± 1,600 cubic kilometers
Location:Antarctica

Facts:-

a) Largest subglacial lake among 400 known subglacial lakes

b) Largest lake in Antarctica

c) 4000 meters under the surface of ice

d) 500 meters below sea level

e) Before its discovery in the late 20th century, the lake may have been a sealed enviroment for millions of years

f) It is believed by some researchers that the lake may contain unusual forms of life

g) The lake remains liquid below the normal freezing point because of high pressure from the weight of the ice above it and geothermic heat from Earth.


#4 Lake Malawi

Also Known As:Lake Nyasa
Volume By Water:8,400 cubic kilometers
Location:In and around the countries of Malawi, Tanzania and Mozambique

Facts:-

a) More species of fish than in any other freshwater body

b) Home to over 1000 species of cichlids

c) Over 500 rare species not found anywhere else


#3 Lake Superior

Also Known As:Gichigami or Big Water
Volume By Water:12,000 cubic kilometers
Location:Between United States and Canada in North America

Facts:-

a) Largest Freshwater lake by area in the world at 82,400 kilometer square

b) Greatest of the Great Lakes in North America

c) Deepest lake in North and South America

d) Contains more water than all the other North American Great Lakes combined

e) Fed by over 300 inlets including Nipigon, Pic, Pigeon and Michipicoten Rivers

f) Outlet in St. Mary’s River to Lake Huron

g) Rift lake – Now extinct Meso-proterozoic rift valley

h) Fifty-eight orchid species are native to the Lake Superior basin.

i) Some of the world’s oldest rocks can be found around the lake


#2 Lake Tanganyika

Volume By Water:20,000 cubic kilometers
Location:Stretching along the countries of Burundi, Zambia, Tanzania & Congo

Facts:-

a) Longest lake in the world at 673 kms

b) Second deepest lake in the world at 1470 meters

c) Deepest lake in Africa

d) Holds over 250 varieties of cichlid fish

e) Fed by over 50 inlets including three major rivers Malagarasi, Ruzizi, and the Kalambo

f) Only one outlet river Lukuga is fed during high rainfall


#1  Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal
Image Credit – de:Benutzer:Sansculotte Wikipedia Commons
Also Known As:Baygal nuur or Nature lake, The Pearl of Siberia
Volume By Water:24,000 cubic kilometers
Location:South of Siberia in Russia, Asia

Facts:-

a) Most voluminous freshwater lake

b) More than 20% of world’s unfrozen surface freshwater

c) Deepest Lake at around 1650 meters

d) Clearest Lake

e) Home to around 1,800 species of plants and animals

f) Around 1200 rare species only found near the lake

g) Estimated to be the oldest lake in the world at 25 million years

h) UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1996


Special Mention: Caspian Sea

Darya-i-kaspi
Satellite image – Caspian Sea
Status:Considered both as a lake and sea
Also Known As:Darya-i-Xahar, Darya-i-Kaspi
Volume By Water:78,200 cubic meters
Location:In and around Russia, Iran, Turkmenistan, Kazakistan, Azerbaijan in Asia

Facts:-

a) Largest enclosed inland body of water in the World

If considered a lake:-

a) Largest lake by area 371,000 square kilometers (More than 4.5 times Lake Superior)

b) Largest lake by volume 78, 200 cubic kilometers (More than 3.5 times Lake Baikal)

c) About 40% of the lake water in the world

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