The lakes cover about 1.8 % of the world, mainly in the small quiet ponds with gently sloping sandy beaches. But there is a giant lake stretching for several hundred kilo-meters, an area larger than some of the sea, on the surface which are raging storms with very real multimeter waves. Meet the ten largest lakes in the world.
10. Great Slave Lake
Great Slave Lake has an area of 28,930 square kilo-meters, is the remains of a reservoir formed after the melting of vassals, formed during the Ice Age. It is the deepest lake in North America, located in the territory of Canada, a depth of 614 meters, which on one side borders on the tundra, and the other with the Canadian shield boundary. The name of the lake is named after the Indian tribe who lived on the shore, the name of which was very much in tune with the English word 'the slave', which translates as 'slave'.
9. Lake Malawi
Lake Malawi, also known as Nyasa, an area of 30,044 km2, contains 7 % of the reserves of fresh water in the world. The pond is a depression on the border of Mozambique, Tanzania and Malawi, the depth of 706 meters, which flows into the river 14. At the steep shores of the lake are often raging storms, during which navigation is almost completely stopped.
8. Big Bear Lake
The largest lake in Canada, Big Bear Lake has an area of 31,153 km². Waters located beyond the Arctic Circle at an altitude of 186 meters above sea level and has a depth of 413 meters. That uranium mined on the shores of Great Bear Lake atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki were made.
7. Lake Baikal
Lake Baikal area of 31,722 square kilometers is the largest repository of fresh water in the world, which kept 19 % of world reserves of fresh water of the world. Pond depth of 1,637 meters was formed on the site of a tectonic fault, and is surrounded by hills and mountains. By the way this is the deepest lake in the world, which runs more than 300 rivers and flows only one river Angara. Most importantly Baikal and its shore, is home to a large number of animals and plants that are not found anywhere else in the world.
6. Lake Tanganyika
Lake Tanganyika area of 32.893 km2 located on the border of the Congo, Tanzania, Zambia and Burundi formed in situ tectonic fault at the boundary of the African and Arabian tectonic plates. This is the second depth (the depth of 1.470 meters) closed reservoir in the world and the second largest volume of fresh water lake in the world. As it is the title of the longest lake in the world, from north to south it has a length of 673 kilometers. Tanganyika shores are high cliffs, and only on the east side there are flat areas. Due to the fact that the lake was formed millions of years ago with a closed ecosystem, where hobnob many unique species of fish, which nowhere else in the world will not find.
5. Lake Michigan
Lake Michigan area of 58,000 km2, the only one of the five Great Lakes, which is entirely within the United States. It is located at an altitude of 177 meters above sea level, its depth is 281 meters. Michigan is high in the northern latitudes, and about four months of the year it binds water ice.
4. Lake Huron
Lake Huron, on the US border and Canada, an area of 59.600 km2, has a depth of 229 meters and a height of 176 meters above sea level. Most interesting is that Lake Huron has a huge number of islands, more than 30 thousand, among which stands out Manitoulin Island, the largest freshwater island in the world, which, in turn, be the largest inland lake in the world - Manitou, area of 106 km2.
3. Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria, an area of 69,485 km2, is the largest African and tropical lake in the world. The pond was formed in a hollow on the East African platform on the border of Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda, at an altitude of 1134 meters above sea level. Lake with plenty of bays, inlets and islands, surrounded by a low marshy banks, only in the southwestern part of the water rests on the sharp rocks stretching up. Victoria has a depth of 84 meters, the main source of replenishment of water which is tropical rain. By the way it is from here it originates the longest river in the world - the Nile.
2. Lake Superior
The second largest in the world and the largest lake in North America - Superior, has an area of 82,414 km2. The pond was formed in the basin as a result of plate tectonics and erosion, which is filled with melted ice water. Above the lake, 406 meters deep, are not protected by mountains, strong winds blow constantly because of what, on the surface, often formed strong seiche(standing waves), heavily damaging the shore.
1. The Caspian Sea
The largest lake in the world is the Caspian Sea, yes it is a lake, despite the fact that it is often called the sea, has an area of 371,000 km2. The banks of the pond and marshy flat, only in the northern part of the heavily indented, near the river deltas of the Volga and the Urals. The Caspian Sea, which is located on the border of Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan, has a depth of 1025 meters. The most interesting thing is the lake appeared as a result of tectonic shifts that led to the emergence of a closed body of water separated from the world's oceans.
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