In the idea of a simple layman, the lake is the place where, sitting in reeds with a fishing rod, you can fish in silence away from the noise of civilization. In a sense, so it is, small nameless lakes on the planet can not be counted. But there are other lakes, which are more like seas, because their dimensions are truly grandiose. The largest lakes in the world are huge navigable water bodies, on the surface of which there are real storms and huge waves are rising. These giant lakes are both fresh and salty.
The largest lake on Earth
The answer to the question, which is the largest lake, is not at all unambiguous. After all, you can compare the lake in depth, in area, in volume of water. Surprisingly, it turns out, the Caspian Sea, which is rightly considered a sea, is in fact a huge lake! It is he who holds the first place in this category. After all, the area of the largest lake is 371 thousand square kilometers with a maximum depth of 1025 meters. At the beginning of the last century, its area was 422 thousand square kilometers and over the last century has considerably grown shallow.
Although the Caspian is a lake, the water in it is salty, but not as much as in the seas. There is the largest salt lake where Europe and Asia meet. From north to south along the entire length of the lake, the climate varies from subtropical to moderately continental. In addition to deposits of world-famous Caspian oil, the lake is rich in fish. Especially there are a lot of sturgeon, and, accordingly, black caviar.
The world's largest freshwater lake
The largest lake of fresh water is Baikal. Its area is 31479 square kilometers. Also Baikal is the deepest in the world - 1637 meters. This mountain lake, located in the frame of mountain ranges, feeds more than three hundred rivers and rivulets. The largest is Selenga, it replenishes half the annual water reserve in the lake. But only one river flows from Baikal - the Angara.
The world's largest fresh water lake is also the deepest and cleanest on the planet. And the beauty of the surrounding area simply does not lend itself to description. In shape, Baikal resembles a crescent moon. In the spring, when the ice drift passes, the transparency of the water reaches forty meters in depth. These pure depths inhabit a huge number of freshwater fish species - from common carp and perch to valuable salmon and sturgeon.
In addition to fish, Baikal has a marine mammal adapted to fresh water - the Baikal seal or seal, and the shore is inhabited by a variety of birds. Interestingly, the waters of the largest lake are inhabited by some species of fish and plants, which nowhere, except here, are found in other water bodies. In recent years, the recreation of the savage at Lake Baikal has become very popular among tourists, both domestic and foreign.
List of the largest lakes in the world
There is a kind of rating of large lakes. It consists of hundreds of titles. Consider only some of them, whose dimensions are truly grandiose:
- The Caspian Sea is a lake located on the territory of modern Russia, but bordering some other Asian states. Its name "sea" it received because of the salinity of water, which is not inherent in the lakes.
- The upper lake is in North America, namely in Canada. It heads the Great Lakes system known since antiquity. In the language of the indigenous people of Canada - the Indians, the name sounds like "big water".
- Lake Victoria - is located on the African continent, in Kenya and Tanzania. The lake is navigable, fishing thrives on it and it is a national park.
- Huron is the second largest lake in the Great Lakes system of North America.
- Michigan - the lake is in the US. And although it forms a single system with Lake Huron in Canada, it is considered separate from its fellow and smaller in size.
