The Caspian Sea
Bordering Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan, and Kazakhstan, the Caspian Sea is the largest lake in the world. In fact, it is so vast that it takes ships 17 hours to cross it. And that is by the shortest route!
The area of this body of water – is about 370,000 square kilometers. And debates still continue over whether it is a lake or a sea. On the one hand, it is surrounded by land, but on the other – its bottom consists of oceanic basalt. Many believe that the Caspian Sea is too large to be called simply a lake.
Lake Baikal
The Caspian Sea may be the largest lake by volume and surface area, but Baikal – is the deepest and largest freshwater lake in the world. Baikal, formed as a result of a tectonic rift, is 636 kilometers long and is surrounded by mountains to the west, north, and northeast. On its forested shores you can find a network of hiking trails, and tourism here tends to focus on wildlife.
Ojos del Salado, Argentina/Chile
Ojos del Salado – is the highest active volcano in the world and the second-highest mountain in South America. In the crater near its summit lies a permanent lake only about 100 meters in diameter. In this case size does not matter; what matters – is altitude. The Ojos del Salado pool sits at an altitude of 6,390 meters above sea level. And that means it is widely recognized as the highest-altitude lake on earth.
Lake Titicaca, Peru/Bolivia
Lake Titicaca is at once the highest and the largest lake in the world. Here there is an abundance of wildlife, including unique birds and frogs. But tourism on Lake Titicaca tends to concentrate on the Inca sites around its shores, as well as on the artificial islands made from the reeds that grow around the lake.
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Lake Kariba, Zambia/Zimbabwe
Not all lakes – are the work of Mother Nature. Lake Kariba – is the largest man-made lake on earth. Created by damming the Zambezi River for a hydroelectric power station, it reaches 223 kilometers in length and 40 kilometers in width. It is loved by many species of fish, as well as by large animals that come to its shores to drink and bathe.
Lake Toba, Indonesia
On the Indonesian island of Sumatra there are many lakes larger than Toba, but none of them is so terrifying. This lake, about 100 by 30 kilometers in size, is in fact a volcanic crater that filled with water over time. The crater formed about 75,000 years ago during what is believed to be the largest eruption in the last 25 million years. Scientists believe that it was this very eruption that almost wiped out the human race.
Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre, South Australia
Determining the largest salt lake in the world is difficult, because many of them have no water most of the time. At present, first place for salinity is held by Kati Thanda-Lake Eyre. Its maximum surface area is about 9,500 square kilometers, but it fills only a few times a century, when floods caused by cyclones occur in northern Australia.
Lake Turkana, Kenya/Ethiopia
Lake Turkana fills part of Kenya's Rift Valley and is considered the largest permanent desert lake in the world. It is also the largest alkaline lake in the world, and its water is unfit to drink.
Three rivers flow into the lake, but none flows out. The water simply evaporates. The lake is remote, hard to reach, and almost untouched by tourism.
Lake Malawi, Tanzania/Malawi/Mozambique
Another rift lake, Malawi, is the ninth largest in the world by volume. But what is truly remarkable is the amount of life it supports. This freshwater lake has the largest number of fish species of any lake in the world. No one has even been able to make an exact count. Estimates range from 700 to 1,000.
Lake Michigan, Chicago.
The five Great Lakes of North America are connected to one another and contain about 21% of the world's freshwater reserves. Lake Superior – is the largest of the lakes, but Michigan – is the most beautiful. It is here that most tourists head for unusual photos against the backdrop of the “floating” city in the distance.
