Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal (/baɪˈkɑːl, -ˈkæl/;[3] Russian: Oзеро Байкал, romanized: Ozero Baykal [ˈozʲɪrə bɐjˈkaɫ]; Buryat: Байгал далай, romanized: Baigal dalai;[4] Mongolian: Байгал нуур, romanized: Baigal nuur) is a rift lake located in Russia situated in southern Siberia between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and Buryatia to the southeast.

With 23,615.39 km3 (5,670 cu mi) of water, Lake Baikal is the world’s largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 23% of the world’s fresh surface water,[5][6][1] more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined.[7] It is the world’s deepest lake,[8] with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft),[1] and the world’s oldest lake,[9] at 25–30 million years.[10][11] At 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi)—slightly larger than Belgium—it is the world’s seventh-largest lake by surface area.[12] It is among the world’s clearest lakes