A list of the world's major lakes ranked by surface area.
Overview
World's Major Lakes
The world's major lakes are evaluated by various indicators such as surface area, depth, and water storage capacity. The Caspian Sea is the world's largest lake, with an area roughly equivalent to that of Japan. Lake Superior is the world's largest freshwater lake and is known as one of the Great Lakes. These lakes play important roles in ecosystem conservation, water resource security, and as tourism resources.
lakes
Caspian Sea
Lake Superior
Lake Baikal
geography
nature
| code | slug | name | description | areaKm2 | location | type |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | caspian-sea | Caspian Sea | The world's largest lake. Called a 'sea' despite being a salt lake. | 374000 | Eurasia (Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan) | saltwater |
| 2 | lake-superior | Lake Superior | The world's largest freshwater lake. One of the Great Lakes. | 82367 | North America (USA, Canada) | freshwater |
| 3 | lake-victoria | Lake Victoria | Africa's largest lake. The world's second-largest freshwater lake. | 68800 | Central Africa (Uganda, Tanzania, Kenya) | freshwater |
| 4 | lake-huron | Lake Huron | One of the Great Lakes. The world's fourth-largest lake. | 59570 | North America (USA, Canada) | freshwater |
| 5 | lake-michigan | Lake Michigan | One of the Great Lakes. The only one entirely within the USA. | 58016 | North America (USA) | freshwater |
| 6 | lake-tanganyika | Lake Tanganyika | The world's second-deepest lake. | 32000 | East Africa (Tanzania, Burundi, Zambia, DRC) | freshwater |
| 7 | lake-baikal | Lake Baikal | The world's deepest lake. Contains about 20% of the world's freshwater. | 31500 | Russia (Siberia) | freshwater |
| 8 | great-bear-lake | Great Bear Lake | Canada's largest lake. | 31153 | Northern Canada | freshwater |
| 9 | lake-malawi | Lake Malawi | An East African rift valley lake. | 29600 | Africa (Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania) | freshwater |
| 10 | great-slave-lake | Great Slave Lake | Canada's second-largest lake. The deepest lake in North America. | 28568 | Northern Canada | freshwater |