What is the world’s deepest freshwater lake, located in Siberia, Russia?

Lake Baikal is the world’s deepest freshwater lake.

It reaches a maximum depth of about 1,642 metres and contains roughly 20% of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater. The lake lies in southern Siberia, between the Irkutsk Oblast and the Republic of Buryatia. Its immense basin formed in an active continental rift zone.

Baikal is also the world’s oldest existing freshwater lake, estimated to be about 25 million years old. Its long geological history helped produce exceptional biodiversity, including the endemic Baikal seal, the only seal species living exclusively in freshwater.

The lake is about 636 kilometres long and holds more water than North America’s Great Lakes combined. Lake Tanganyika is the second-deepest lake, while Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by surface area. These different records are easy to mix up because “largest” can mean area, volume, or depth.