<Tr> <Td_colspan="2"> Shore length is not a well - defined measure . </Td> </Tr> <P> Lake Baikal (/ baɪˈkɑːl, - ˈkæl /; Russian: о́зеро Байка́л, tr . Ozero Baykal, IPA: (ˈozjɪrə bɐjˈkaɫ); Buryat: Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur; Mongolian: Байгал нуур, Baigal nuur, etymologically meaning, in Mongolian, "the Nature Lake") is a rift lake in Russia, located in southern Siberia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast . </P> <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 on the eastern side of Lake Baikal, raising goats, camels, cattle, sheep, and horses, where the mean temperature varies from a winter minimum of − 19 ° C (− 2 ° F) to a summer maximum of 14 ° C (57 ° F). </P>

Largest and deepest freshwater lake in the world