File:Lake Baikal, Mongolia.PNG

Lake Baikal 

Lake Baikal is located in south-central Russia near the Mongolian border. It is is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world, and the world's deepest lake. Somewhat crescent shaped, it is in the southern Siberia area of Russia. It is containing 22–23% of the world's fresh surface water. With 23,615.39 km 3 (5,670 cu mi) of fresh water, it contains more water than the North American Great Lakes combined. With a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft), Baikal is the world's deepest lake. It is considered among the world's clearest lakes and is considered the world's oldest lake at 25 million years. It is the seventh-largest lake in the world by surface area. Like Lake Tanganyika, Lake Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley, having the typical long crescent shape with a surface area of 31,722 km 2 (12,248 sq mi). Baikal is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which exist nowhere else in the world. It is also home to Buryat tribes who reside on the eastern side of Lake Baikal, rearing goats, camels, cattle, and sheep, where the mean temperature varies from a winter minimum of −19 °C (−2 °F) to a summer maximum of 14 °C (57 °F).

The region to the east of Lake Baikal is referred to as Transbaikalia, and the loosely defined region of the lake is sometimes known as Baikalia. The lake is completely surrounded by mountains. The Baikal Mountains on the north shore, the Barguzin Range on the northeastern shore, and the taiga are technically protected as a national park. It contains 27 islands; the largest, Olkhon, is 72 km (45 mi) long and is the third-largest lake-bound island in the world. The lake is fed by as many as 330 in flowing rivers. The main ones draining directly into Baikal are the Selenga River, the Barguzin River, the Upper Angara River, the Turka River, the Sarma River, and the Snezhnaya River. It is drained through a single outlet, the Angara River.

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