6 Deepest Lakes To Visit In The World

The wonders of nature are ceaseless, and when it comes to lakes and water bodies, one can truly see nature at its most spectacular. The lakes given below, are renowned for their picturesque locations, tucked away in the lap of nature; for the untouched purity of their waters, and for the wide variety of aquatic life they house. While some of them are tourist hotspots, others receive a sparse inflow of tourists because of their remote location. Ranging in depth from over 5000 to 500 feet-deep, these are the 12 deepest lakes in the world-

# Lake Baikal, Russia

Lake Baikal is the world's deepest lake; it is the second most voluminous lake, after the Caspian Sea. As the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, with an average depth of 744.4 m (2,442 ft), Lake Baikal contains roughly 20% of the world's surface fresh water. Located in the south of the Russian region of Siberia (between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast, near the city of Irkutsk), the body of water is also known as the "Pearl of Siberia". At 1,642 metres (5,387 ft), Lake Baikal is the deepest, and among the clearest of all lakes in the world.

# Lake Tanganyika, Burundi / Congo / Tanzania / Zambia

Lake Tanganyika (4,823 ft or 1,470 m) is an African Great Lake. It is estimated to be the second largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, and the second deepest, after Lake Baikal in Siberia; it is also the world's longest lake. The lake is divided between four countries – Burundi, Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Tanzania and Zambia, with the DRC (45%) and Tanzania (41%) possessing the majority of the lake. The water flows into the Congo River system and ultimately into the Atlantic Ocean.

# Caspian Sea, Iran / Russia / Kazakhstan / Turkmenistan / Azerbaijan

The Caspian Sea (3,363 ft or 1025 m) is the largest enclosed body of water on Earth by area, variously classed as the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. The sea has a surface area of 371,000 km2 (143,200 sq mi) (Not including Garabogazköl Aylagy) and a volume of 78,200 km3(18,800 cu mi). It is in an endorheic basin (it has no outflows) and is bounded by northern Iran, southern Russia, western Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, and eastern Azerbaijan.

# San Martin, O'Higgins Lake, Argentina / Chile

The lake known as O'Higgins in Chile and San Martín in Argentina (2,742 ft or 836 m), is located in the Patagonia, between the Aysén Region and the Santa Cruz Province. Its surface is of 1,058 km² at 250 metres above mean sea level, and has a shoreline length of 525 km.

# Lake Vostok, Antarctica

Lake Vostok is the largest of more than 140 subglacial lakes found under the surface of Antarctica. It is located beneath Russia's Vostok Station, 4,000 metres (13,000 ft) under the surface of the central Antarctic ice sheet. It is 250 kilometres (160 mi) long by 50 kilometres (31 mi) wide at its widest point, thus similar in size to Lake Ontario, and is divided into two deep basins by a ridge. The water over the ridge is about 200 metres (660 ft), compared to roughly 400 metres (1,300 ft) deep in the northern basin and 800 metres (2,600 ft) deep in the southern. Lake Vostok covers an area of 15,690 square kilometres (6,060 sq mi). It has an estimated volume of 5,400 cubic kilometres (1,300 cu mi) and consists of fresh water. The average depth is 344 metres (1,129 ft). In May 2005 an island was found in the center of the lake.

# Lake Malawi, Malawi / Mozambique / Tanzania

Lake Malawi (also known as Lake Nyasa in most countries; 2,316 ft or 706 m), is an African Great Lake and the southmost lake in the Great Rift Valley system of East Africa. This lake, the third largest in Africa and the eighth largest lake in the world, is located between Malawi, Mozambique, and Tanzania. It is the second deepest lake in Africa, though its placid northern shore gives no hint of its depth. This great lake's tropical waters reportedly are the habitat of more species of fish than that of any other body of water on the Earth.