This list includes both salt lakes and freshwater lakes that have the largest surface area on earth. The area of some lakes can vary over time depending on the seasons, climate changes, and human causes. This list does not include extraterrestrial lakes, i.e lakes on moon or other planet.
1. Caspian Sea, 371,000 km2
The Caspian Sea, located between Europe and Asia, is generally regarded as the largest inland endorheic salt lake. However, the ancient inhabitants always regarded Caspian as a sea because of its large size and saltiness.
Caspian sea has a surface area of around 143,200 sq mi (371,000 km2), and a volume of 78,200 km3. It also has a salinity of about a third of the salinity of most seawater, approximately 1.2%.
The Caspian Sea, is believed to be one of the remnants of the ancient Paratethys Sea. The other remnants are Black Sea, Lake Urmia, and Namak Lake. About 5.5 million years ago, Caspian Sea became landlocked because of the tectonic movement and a fall in sea level.
2. Lake Superior, 82,100 km2
Lake Superior is the largest of the group Great Lakes of North America, also the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area (if Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are taken separately). It has a vast area of 82,103 km2 (31,700 sq mi), is fed by more than 200 rivers, and empties into Lake Huron via the Soo Locks and the St. Marys River.
Though there is no certain evidence that shows the actual age of Lake Superior, but the rocks at the northern shore of Lake Superior date back to the early history of the earth.
3. Lake Victoria, 68,870 km2
Lake Victoria has a surface area of around 68,800 km2(26,600 sq mi). This large area makes Lake Victoria the largest lake in Africa, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second-largest fresh water lake in the world.
Lake Victoria is one of the African Great Lakes. It occupies a shallow depression in Africa, and is divided among three countries: Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania. The lake is fed primarily from direct rainfall and thousands of small streams. Its only outflow is the Nile River near Jinja, Uganda, on the lake's northern shore.
4. Lake Huron, 59, 590 km2
Lake Huron is one of the five Great Lakes of North America, also the second-largest of the Great Lakes group by surface area, which covers 59,590 km2 (23,007 sq mi). Lake Huron is the home for about 30,000 islands, and has the largest shore line length of any of the Great Lakes with a number of large cities on it.
Lake Huron is a freshwater lake that was formed by melting ice as the continental glaciers retreated toward the end of the last ice age. In the last century, its ecology has undergone drastic changes. It has suffered because of the introduction of new invasive species. Experts estimated that these recent changes may be attributable to the new exotic species.
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| Lake Michigan-Huron. Photo: via wikipedia.org |
5. Lake Michigan, 58,026 km2
Lake Michigan is the largest lake entirely contained within one country by surface area of 58,026 km2 (22,404 sq mi). It lies in the region known as the American Midwest. Lake Michigan has many beaches, which region is often called as the Third Coast of the United States.
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron hydrologically are the same body of water that is sometimes called Lake Michigan-Huron, part of the Great Lakes Waterway. The dividing line between them is the Straits of Mackinac, also known as Mackinac Bridge. If counted together, Lake Michigan–Huron is the largest fresh water lake in the world by surface area.
6. Lake Tanganyika, 32,600 km2
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| Lake Tanganyika. Photo: www.zambiatourism.com |
Lake Tanganyika is the largest rift valley lake in Africa with a surface area of 12,700 square miles (32,900 km2). The lake is divided among four countries: Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, and Zambia. Lake Tanganyika is also the second largest lake by volume in the world after Lake Baikal in Siberia.
7. Lake Baikal, 31,500 km2
Lake Baikal is a continental rift lake located in Siberia, Russia. There are few reasons that make Lake Baikal as one of the most notable lakes in the world:
- Lake Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley by the Baikal Rift Zone 25–30 million years ago, makes it the oldest lake in the world today,
- Lake Baikal has the typical crescent shape with a surface area of 12,248 square miles (31,722 km2),
- Lake Baikal is the clearest and the largest freshwater lake by volume which contains 22–23% of the fresh surface water on earth,
- Lake Baikal is the deepest lake with a maximum depth of 1,642 meters,
- Lake Baikal contains 27 islands; with the largest is Olkhon (45 miles long). Olkhon is the third-largest lake-bound island in the world.
- Lake Baikal was declared as World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1996.
8. Great Bear Lake, 31,153 km2
The Great Bear Lake is the largest lake entirely in Canada, and the fourth largest in North America with surface area of 31,153 km2 (12,028 sq mi).
Great Bear Lake was part of Glacial Lake McConnell in the pre-glacial valleys that during the Pleistocene it was reshaped by erosional ice. There are five arms of Great Bear Lake: the Dease Arm (northeast), the Smith Arm (northwest), the McTavish Arm (southeast), and the Keith Arm (southwest), and the McVicar Arm (south).
9. Lake Malawi, 29,500 km2
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| Lake Malawi. Photo by Noel Peries, via www.maggieinafrica.com |
Ancient Lake Malawi has been tipically estimated to be 1-2 million years old which formed by a divergent plate tectonics boundary. However, the recent evidence has been estimated that the basin started to form about 8.6 million years ago and deep-water condition first occurred 4.5 million years ago.
Lake Malawi is famous for the huge swarms of harmless lake flies called Chaoborus edulis. These swarms can be mistaken for plumes of smoke. The larvae are food source for fish, and the adult flies are collected by local people to make a very high protein local delicacy, i.e. kunga cakes.
10. Great Slave Lake, 27,200 km2
Great Slave Lake is the deepest lake in North America at 614 metres, and the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada which covers an area of 27,200 km2 (10,502 sq mi). It has one ice road known as the Dettah ice road that connects the Northwest Territories capital of Yellowknife to Dettah.
Great Slave Lake is a remnant of the vast glacial Lake McConnell. The lake has a very irregular shoreline. The western shore is forested, but the east shore and northern arm are tundra-like. The lake is partially frozen for around eight months every year.
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