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5 Largest Lakes in the World

November 10, 2009 Travel

Very simply, the word lake is defines as “the water body surrounded by the land”. The Planet Earth has number of lakes both of fresh water and not of fresh water. Interesting thing is that Lake Baikal holds one-fifth of the worlds freshwater but it is not the world’s largest lake. Following are the five largest lakes in the world by area.

1  Caspian Sea:

Most of people took Caspian Sea as a Sea or Ocean but in fact it fulfills all the terms of lake’s definition. Caspian Sea is the world’s largest Asian Lake but not of fresh water. Its basin shares the border of Southern Russia and Northern Iran and its coastline shares the border of Eastern Azerbaijan, Western Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan. Caspian Sea is a salt water lake which got the area of 152,239 sq miles, length of 745 miles and has maximum depth of 3,104 feet. The Caspian is divided into three distinct physical regions i.e.: Northern, Middle, and Southern Caspian. It has the salinity of about 1.2%.  The Caspian Sea has no outflows other than by evaporation. Over 130 rivers provide inflow to the Caspian, with the Volga River being the largest. Average temperature of Caspian Sea is about 24 to 26 degrees Celsius in summer. Caspian Sea is Natural, permanent, saline and Endorheic in type.

2  Superior Lake:

It is a fresh water North American lake that is bounded to the north by Ontario, Minnesota and to the south by the states of Wisconsin and Michigan. Its basin shares the border of Canada and United States. Superior lake is a fresh water lake which has the area of 31,820 sq. miles, length of 383 miles and got maximum depth of 1,333 feet. Over 200 rivers provide inflow to the Superior Lake. The Primary outflow of Lake Superior is Saint Marys River. The average temperature of Lake Superior in summer is about 40 degrees Fahrenheit. It is Glacial in type.

3 Victoria Lake:

Victoria Lake is the largest Tropical Lake in the world located in Africa. It is the fresh water lake with area of 26,828 sq. miles, length of 200 miles and maximum depth of 270 feet. Its basin shares the border of Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. The Primary inflows of Victoria Lake are from direct perspiration and Kagera River. The Primary outflow of Lake is White Nile. The average temperature is from 21.6 to 24.0 degrees Celsius in summer.

4  Huron Lake:

Lake Huron is a North American Lake with the area of 23,010 sq. miles, length of 247 miles and maximum depth of 750 feet. Lake Huron is bounded on the east by Ontario, Canada and on the west by Michigan, USA. The Primary inflows are Straits of Mackinac, St. Marys River. The Primary outflow is Saint Clair River. It is Glacial in type and belongs to the Great Lakes Group.

5 Michigan Lake:

Michigan Lake is a North American Lake with the area of 22,400 sq. miles, length of 321 miles and maximum depth of 923 feet. Michigan Lake is bounded from west to east by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. Many People consider Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as a single lake and often Lake Michigan is called as Michigan-Huron Lake. It is also Glacial in type and belongs to the Great Lakes Group.

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