About
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world's deepest lake (1,642 meters), the world's oldest lake (25–30 million years old), and the world's largest freshwater lake by volume. It contains approximately 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water — more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Baikal is a biodiversity hotspot — 80% of its approximately 3,700 species are found nowhere else on Earth, including the Baikal seal (nerpa), the only freshwater seal in the world. It freezes over each winter with ice clear enough to see 40 meters deep. The Trans-Siberian Railway runs along its southern shore.
# Top 10 Lake Baikal facts
- 1Lake Baikal contains 20% of all the world's surface fresh water — more than all the Great Lakes combined
- 2It is home to the nerpa, the world's only freshwater seal species
- 3Baikal's ice is so clear and pure that you can see 40 meters to the bottom
Fascinating Facts
- ◆Lake Baikal contains 20% of all the world's surface fresh water — more than all the Great Lakes combined
- ◆It is home to the nerpa, the world's only freshwater seal species
- ◆Baikal's ice is so clear and pure that you can see 40 meters to the bottom
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