10 Deepest Lakes In the World

1. Lake Baikal - Russia

Lake Baikal

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.

2. Lake Tanganyika - Burundi / Congo / Tanzania / Zambia

Lake Tanganyika

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.

3. Caspian Sea -  Iran / Russia / Kazakhstan / Turkmenistan / Azerbaijan

Caspian Sea

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.

4. San Martin - O'Higgins Lake - Argentina / Chile

San Martin - O'Higgins Lake

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.

5. Lake Vostok - Antartica

Lake Vostok

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.

6. Lake Malawi - Malawi / Mozambique / Tanzania

Lake Malawi

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.

7. Lake Issyk Kul - Kyrgyzstan

Lake Issyk Kul

Lake Issyk Kul has a length of 182 kilometers (113 mi), a width of up to 60 kilometers (37 mi), and covers an area of 6,236 square kilometers (2,407.7 sq mi). This makes it the second largest mountain lake in the world behind Lake Titicaca in South America. Located at an altitude of 1,607 meters (5,272 ft), it reaches 668 meters (2,192 ft) in depth.

8. Great Slave Lake - Canada

Great Slave Lake

Great Slave Lake is the second-largest lake in the Northwest Territories of Canada (after of Great Bear Lake), the deepest lake in North America at 614 m (2,014 ft), and the ninth-largest lake in the world. It is 480 km (300 mi) long and 19 to 109 km (12 to 68 mi) wide. It covers an area of 27,200 km² (10,502 sq mi) in the southern part of the territory. Its volume is 2,090 km³(500 cu mi). The lake shares its name with the Slavey North American Indians.

9. Crater Lake - USA

Crater Lake

Crater Lake is a caldera lake located in the south-central region of the U.S. state of Oregon. It is the main feature of Crater Lake National Park and famous for its deep blue color and water clarity. The lake partly fills a nearly 2,148 foot (655 m) deep caldera that was formed around 7,700 (± 150) years ago by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama.

10. Lake Matano - Indonesia

Lake Matano

Lake Matano (1,936 ft  or 590 m), also known as Matana, is a natural lake in South Sulawesi, Indonesia. It is the deepest lake in Indonesia (ranked by maximum depth), and the 10th deepest lake in the world. Lake Matano is home to many species of endemic fish and other animals as well as many plants. The endemic fishes of Matano have been compared to that of the species swarms of the Rift Valley Lakes of Africa. While not as diverse, they are thought to have all arisen from a single ancestor species and diversified into numerous different species, which now fill many of the previously vacant ecological niches.