The largest lakes in the world

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Eurasia is home to the largest inland body of water the Caspian Sea. North America has five of the ten largest lakes and three are part of the Great Lakes. Until the second half of the twentieth century Eurasia possessed the world's fourth largest lake, the Aral Sea. This is no longer the case however as by the second decade of the twenty-first century the lake had been reduced to a handful of remnant pools. The inflowing streams were diverted for agriculture, leading to the lake's disappearance. It is one of the most striking examples of how human activity can irrevocably change the Earth's surface within a few generations.

In the 1960s, new lakes were discovered deep beneath the ice in Antarctica. Some of them are comparable in size to the largest surface lakes in the world. The largest subglacial body of liquid water is Lake Vostok, which would rank 16th in size.

Caspian Sea

The largest lake in the world, with an area of ​​386 thousand square kilometers, extends into the territories of Turkmenistan, Kazakhstan, Russia, Azerbaijan and Iran.

Upper Lake

The largest of the Great Lakes, located in Canada and the USA, covers an area of ​​82,100 square kilometers.

Lake Victoria

The third largest lake in the world is located in Africa, in the territories of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda. Its area is 69,484 square kilometers.

Lake Huron

Another of the Great Lakes, located in Canada and the USA, ranks fourth with an area of ​​59,570 square kilometers.

Lake Michigan

The third of the Great Lakes covers an area of ​​57,757 kilometers in the United States.

Tanganyika

The lake is located in Africa, on the territory of Burundi, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Zambia. With an area of ​​32,900 square kilometers, it ranks sixth.

Baikal

The deepest lake on the planet, it is also the seventh largest with an area of ​​31,500 square kilometers. It also contains one fifth of the world's surface fresh water reserves.

Big Bear Lake

The eighth largest lake in the world can be found in Canada and covers an area of ​​31,328 square kilometers.

Malawi

Another of Africa's great lakes is located in the countries of Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. It covers an area of ​​29,604 square kilometers.

Great Slave Lake

The top ten largest lakes in the world is rounded out by Great Slave Lake in Canada, with an area of ​​28,568 square kilometers.

Source:Britannica