Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.
Geologists say Baikal today shows what the seaboards of North America, Africa and Europe looked like as they began to separate millions of years ago.
Surrounded by mile-high snowcapped mountains, Lake Baikal still offers vistas of unmatched beauty.

Lake Baikal – Interesting Facts

• Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world with a maximum depth of 1,632m
• It is also the world’s largest volume of fresh water 23,000 cubic km.
• This means that one-fifth of all the fresh water in the world is located here at Lake Baikal.
• Lake Baikal is 640km long and judging by its dimensions only it would be more of a sea than a lake.
• Baikal is also the world’s most ancient freshwater lake, it originated 20-25 million years ago.
• It is home to many unique species of animals and plants including the freshwater seal.
• Lake Baikal is one of the clearest and purest bodies of water. In a good day you could see 40 meters into the lake.
• 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.
• The water in the lake creates a mild microclimate around its shores.
• More than half the species found in Lake Baikal are unique to this place.

The symbol of Baikal Lake

Known locally as the nerpa and referred to as Pusa sibirica, the Baikal seal is found only in Russia’s isolated Lake Baikal, a designated World Heritage Site and the world’s deepest, oldest and most voluminous mass of freshwater. The Baikal seal, one of the world’s smallest pinnipeds, is in fact the only pinniped species that lives solely in freshwater.