Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, reaching about 1,642 meters below its surface.
Located in southern Siberia, Russia, Baikal is also the world’s oldest freshwater lake, with an estimated age of about 25 million years. It holds roughly 20% of the planet’s unfrozen surface freshwater, more than all the North American Great Lakes combined.
Baikal is often confused with Lake Tanganyika, which is the world’s second-deepest lake and the second-largest freshwater lake by volume. Baikal is also exceptionally long and narrow, stretching for about 636 kilometers.
The lake supports hundreds of unique species, including the Baikal seal, the only seal species living exclusively in freshwater. Its water is unusually clear in many areas, although seasonal conditions and microscopic organisms affect visibility.