<P> Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake by volume in the world, containing 22--23% of the world's fresh surface water . With 23,615.39 km (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--30 million years . It is the seventh - largest lake in the world by surface area . </P> <P> 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 (12,248 sq mi). Baikal is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which exist nowhere else in the world . The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996 . It is also home to Buryat tribes who reside around Lake Baikal, rearing goats, camels, cattle, and sheep, where the mean temperature varies from a winter minimum of − 35 ° C (− 31 ° F) to a summer maximum of 30 ° C (86 ° F). </P> <P> The region to the east of Lake Baikal is referred to as Transbaikalia, and the loosely defined region around the lake is sometimes known as simply Baikalia . </P> <P> Lake Baikal is in a rift valley, created by the Baikal Rift Zone, where the Earth's crust is slowly pulling apart . At 636 km (395 mi) long and 79 km (49 mi) wide, Lake Baikal has the largest surface area of any freshwater lake in Asia, at 31,722 km (12,248 sq mi), and is the deepest lake in the world at 1,642 m (5,387 ft). The bottom of the lake is 1,186.5 m (3,893 ft) below sea level, but below this lies some 7 km (4.3 mi) of sediment, placing the rift floor some 8--11 km (5.0--6.8 mi) below the surface, the deepest continental rift on Earth . In geological terms, the rift is young and active--it widens about 2 cm (0.8 in) per year . The fault zone is also seismically active; hot springs occur in the area and notable earthquakes happen every few years . The lake is divided into three basins: North, Central, and South, with depths about 900 m (3,000 ft), 1,600 m (5,200 ft), and 1,400 m (4,600 ft), respectively . Fault - controlled accommodation zones rising to depths about 300 m (980 ft) separate the basins . The North and Central basins are separated by Academician Ridge, while the area around the Selenga Delta and the Buguldeika Saddle separates the Central and South basins . The lake drains into the Angara tributary of the Yenisei . Notable landforms include Cape Ryty on Baikal's northwest coast . </P>

Lake baikal is the deepest lake on earth. it is part of a