What is the largest lake in the world?
Many people think that Lake Baikal in Russia is the largest, as it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Lake Baikal, on the other hand, only holds the title of the world’s oldest and deepest lake.
The largest lake is the Caspian Sea, which covers an area of 371,000 km 2 and is therefore larger than the whole of Germany. For comparison, Baikal is only 31,722 km 2 in size.
Read about the largest lakes in the world here in the article.
Here is an overview of the five largest lakes
Caspian Sea
The largest lake in the world
- Area: 371,000 km 2 .
- Width and length: The Caspian Sea is roughly 1,200 km wide and 1,300 km long.
- Depth: 186 meters on average.
The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea . In English, the lake is called “Caspian Sea”.
This water, which is a salt lake, can be found in Eastern Europe on the border between Europe and Asia. The countries of Azerbaijan, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan all have coastlines on the lake.
The Caspian Sea is called an ocean because it has both the characteristics of a sea and a lake. However, it is classified as a lake and is thus the largest lake in the world.
From a scientific point of view, the Caspian Sea is a body of water that is completely surrounded by land and without any outlet to other lakes or seas, but is contained.
This means that water is released from the lake only by evaporation, and as a result, this type of lake often contains saltier water than the oceans. As a result, such lakes are called salty lakes.
Lake Superior
Lake Superior is the largest and least polluted of the Great Lakes.
- Area: 82,350 km 2 .
- Width and Length: Lake Superior is 258 km wide and 563 km long.
- Depth: 406 meters.
Lake Superior, also called Upper Lake, is the largest freshwater lake in the world, the second largest of all lakes and also the largest and northernmost of the Great Lakes on the border of the United States and Canada.
The Great Lakes is an umbrella term for five large lakes: Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario, all of which are found on the border between the United States and Canada.
This lake borders the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Ontario in Canada. Water flows into it from approx. 200 rivers and the largest are Nipigon and St. Louis.
The second largest lake in the world is part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, a system of canals and waterfalls that connect the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. Over 100 million tons of goods are transported on this shipping route every year.
Some of the most important port cities along this route are Duluth and Thunder Bay, from where vast quantities of oil, timber and iron are shipped to other places.
Lake Victoria
The coastline of Lake Victoria is a total of 3,440 km long and there are more than 3,000 islands on the lake.
- Area: 69,484 km2
- Width and length: Lake Victoria is 240 km wide and 337 km long.
- Depth: 82 meters.
Lake Victoria, known in English as Lake Victoria, is the largest lake in Africa, the second largest freshwater lake in the world and the third largest of all lakes in the world.
Named after Queen Victoria of England, the lake is found in eastern Africa, between Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi and Rwanda.
Lake Victoria is home to over 200 different species of fish. Many of the fish belong to the cichlid family, but it is the bora tribe .
Every year, Lake Victoria sees 40 million people boating, but the ecosystem suffers from overfishing and pollution, both of which are contributing to the threat of further fishing on the lake.
All around the lake there are densely populated agricultural areas.
This has, among other things, resulted in soil erosion and water pollution caused by pesticides and artificial fertilizers used in agriculture.
In addition, water hyacinths have also taken up residence throughout the lake, and it can be noted that in 1998, 80% of Uganda’s entire coastline was covered with these plants. Water hyacinths cover the lake like a thick blanket and have caused great difficulties in relation to fishing and have also caused disruptions in hydropower supplies near the lake shore.
Then we must not forget the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, when a lot of corpses floated into the water and created a great health hazard.
The above issues have created huge environmental problems for the lake, and many international non-profit organizations have been rowing to save the lake for years.
Lake Huron
Lake Huron is home to the largest island on a lake, i.e. Manitoulin Island.
- Area: 60,700 km2
- Width and length: Lake Huron is 183 km wide and 331 km long.
- Depth: 229 meters.
Lake Huron, which in English is called Lake Huron, is the third largest freshwater lake in the world, the fourth largest of all lakes and the second largest of the Great Lakes, located on the border of the United States and Canada.
The lake is bordered by the US state of Michigan and the Canadian province of Ontario and is part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway, as is Lake Superior.
Important economic activities on the lake include timber transport and fishing. Then don’t forget the northern bay, Georgian Bay, which is a popular summer holiday destination where tourists visit the beaches and small islands in the bay.
Lake Huron was the first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by Europeans when two French explorers arrived there in 1615, Samuel de Champlain and Étienne Brûlé.
Lake Michigan
The third largest city in the United States, Chicago, is located on the southern shore of Lake Michigan.
- Area: 57,757 km 2 .
- Width and length: Lake Michigan is 120 miles (190 km) wide and 335 miles (517 km) long.
- Depth: 281 meters.
Lake Michigan, known in English as Lake Michigan, is the fourth largest freshwater lake in the world and the fifth largest of all lakes in the world.
This lake is part of the Great Lakes and in fact is the only one of them that lies within the borders of the United States. As the name suggests, the lake can be found by the state of Michigan.
This lake is connected to Lake Huron via the Straits of Mackinac and as a result is also an important part of the Saint Lawrence Waterway.
The discharge of sewage from large cities such as Chicago, which is found in the southern part of the lake, has resulted in enormous pollution in the lake, which threatens its ecosystems. Despite this, many tourists leave land under foot and stay along the lake during their vacations.
What is the largest lake in Europe?
The northwestern part of Ladoga used to belong to Finland.
Ladoga is the largest lake in Europe . It is found in northwestern Russia, right next to the Finnish border.
The largest lake in Europe has an area of 18,400 km 2 and the depth on the north side is 380 meters.
The Neva River in Russia flows into and out of the lake, but that river flows through St. Petersburg and from there into the Gulf of Finland.
It is very cold near Ladoga and the water freezes in winter.
In the northern part of the lake there are many very high rocky shores, and both fog and regular storms mean that the lake is considered a difficult and dangerous navigation route.
There are about 660 islands in the lake, the largest of which is an island named Riyekkalan-Sari.
