Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve.
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Not only is Lake Baikal safe to swim in, but it also boasts some of the purest water in the world. The only drawback is the temperature - even during the warmer months, a dip in the lake is pretty invigorating.
The ancestors of cottoid fish emerged in the Far-Eastern seas of Russia. During the Miocene, about 20 million years ago, they began to invade rivers, adapting to life in fresh water. Moving down the rivers, they ended up in Lake Baikal, first in its shallow waters, then in deep waters and the water column.
Baikal is one of the few lakes on the planet in which, according to the standards, it is allowed to take water for drinking from open reservoirs. Water is extracted from special layers of the lake, which were on the surface of the lake hundreds of years ago, from a depth of 400m.
Lake Baikal is not only the largest, deepest, and oldest lake in the world, but houses around 2,000 unique known species of animal that are not found anywhere else on Earth.
Dimensions of Lake Baikal: It is 636 km long, 79 km wide. There are 27 islands in Lake Baikal, most of them being uninhabited. Baikal Lake's coastline measures 2100 kilometers (around 1300 miles). More than 300 streams and rivers flow into Lake Baikal, but there is just one outlet, the Angara.
Unique WildlifeAmong these interesting creatures are the Baikal omul fish, Baikal oil fish and most notably, the Baikal seal or nerpa as they are called in Russian. This is one of the only seal species to live entirely in fresh water.
The ringed seals is considered the ancestor of the Baikal seal, and are thought to have reached the lake by traveling up the river system and drainage that runs from the lake to the Arctic Ocean some 400,000 years ago during the Pleistocene.
Lake Ohrid is considered the deepest and oldest lake in Europe. It was reported that the Lake has the most biodiverse freshwater bodies of water in the world with many endemic species.
What Is the Highest Lake in the World? Though Ojos del Salado is the highest volcanic crater lake in the world, at over 20,000 feet in elevation, a different body of water is recorded as the world's highest navigable lake: Lake Titicaca.
When walking on Lake Baikal in winter, you might feel like you are walking on air. The translucent ice covering all 31,722 square kilometers is a popular and beautiful mode of transportation, from walking trails to ice highways.
Lake Baikal, SiberiaNot only is Lake Baikal the deepest lake in the world, clocking in at 5,387 feet (1,642 meters) deep, it's also the world's oldest lake, and its largest lake by volume of water. Lake Baikal is around 25 million years old and roughly the size of Belgium.
The largest species is the Siberian sturgeon, which sometimes measures more than 6 1/2 feet (2 meters) long. The only mammal is the Baikal seal. The first hydrothermal vents, or hot-water springs, ever discovered in a freshwater lake were found at the bottom of Lake Baikal in 1990.