List of Largest Lakes In The World

This is a list of largest lakes in the world with a surface area of more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,200 sq mi), ordered by area. This list does not include reservoirs and lagoons; if include reservoirs and lagoons, Garabogazköl in Turkmenistan, Lake Maracaibo in Venezuela, and Lake Volta in Ghana would come in at numbers 15, 17, and 19.

The area of some lakes can vary considerably over time, either seasonally or from year to year. This is especially true of salt lakes in arid climates.

Oceanic 'lakes'

	Name	Countries with shoreline	Area	Length	Maximum depth	Notes
1	Caspian Sea*	Kazakhstan Turkmenistan Iran Azerbaijan Russia	371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi)	1,199 km (745 mi)	1,025 m (3,363 ft)	Variously considered the world's largest lake or a full-fledged sea. Geologically, the south Caspian is a small ocean. *Not including Garabogazköl Aylagy.

Continental lakes

	Name	Countries with shoreline	Area	Length	Maximum depth	Notes
2	Michigan-Huron	Canada United States	117,702 km2 (45,445 sq mi)	710 km (440 mi)	282 m (925 ft)	Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are physically a single body of water. If counted separately, Huron and Michigan are the third and fourth largest freshwater lakes, respectively.
3	Superior	Canada United States	82,414 km2 (31,820 sq mi)	616 km (383 mi)	406 m (1,332 ft)	Is the largest freshwater lake in the world if Michigan-Huron is counted as two lakes.
4	Victoria	Uganda Kenya Tanzania	69,485 km2 (26,828 sq mi)	322 km (200 mi)	84 m (276 ft)	The largest lake in Africa; also the second largest freshwater lake in the world if Michigan-Huron is counted as two lakes.
5	Tanganyika	Burundi Tanzania Zambia Democratic Republic of the Congo	32,893 km2 (12,700 sq mi)	676 km (420 mi)	1,470 m (4,820 ft)	Second deepest lake in the world.
6	Baikal	Russia	31,500 km2 (12,200 sq mi)	636 km (395 mi)	1,637 m (5,371 ft)	Deepest lake in the world. Largest volume fresh water lake in the world. Largest lake sharing a shoreline with a single country.
7	Great Bear Lake	Canada	31,080 km2 (12,000 sq mi)	373 km (232 mi)	446 m (1,463 ft)	Largest lake entirely within Canada
8	Malawi	Tanzania Mozambique Malawi	30,044 km2 (11,600 sq mi)	579 km (360 mi)	706 m (2,316 ft)	Second deepest lake in Africa. It has more fish species than any other lake on Earth
9	Great Slave Lake	Canada	28,930 km2 (11,170 sq mi)	480 km (300 mi)	614 m (2,014 ft)	Deepest lake in North America
10	Erie	Canada United States	25,719 km2 (9,930 sq mi)	388 km (241 mi)	64 m (210 ft)	Lake Erie is the shallowest of the Great Lakes
11	Winnipeg	Canada	23,553 km2 (9,094 sq mi)	425 km (264 mi)	36 m (118 ft)	Located in Manitoba, it is the largest lake contained within a single province.
12	Ontario	Canada United States	19,477 km2 (7,520 sq mi)	311 km (193 mi)	244 m (801 ft)
13	Balkhash*	Kazakhstan	18,428 km2 (7,115 sq mi)	605 km (376 mi)	26 m (85 ft)	Largest lake in Central Asia
14	Ladoga	Russia	18,130 km2 (7,000 sq mi)	219 km (136 mi)	230 m (750 ft)	Largest lake in Europe
15	Vostok	Antarctic territory claimed by Australia	15,690 km2 (6,060 sq mi)	250 km (160 mi)	900–1,000 m (3,000–3,300 ft)	Largest lake in Antarctica; also largest subglacial lake in the world.
17	Onega	Russia	9,891 km2 (3,819 sq mi)	248 km (154 mi)	120 m (390 ft)	Second largest lake in Europe
18	Titicaca	Peru Bolivia	8,135 km2 (3,141 sq mi)	177 km (110 mi)	281 m (922 ft)	Largest lake in South America if Lake Maracaibo is discounted; one of the highest commercially navigable lakes in the world.
19	Nicaragua	Nicaragua	8,001 km2 (3,089 sq mi)	177 km (110 mi)	26 m (85 ft)	Largest lake in Central America
20	Athabasca	Canada	7,920 km2 (3,060 sq mi)	335 km (208 mi)	243 m (797 ft)	Largest Lake in Saskatchewan/Alberta
21	Taymyr	Russia	6,990 km2 (2,700 sq mi)	250 km (160 mi)	26 m (85 ft)
22	Turkana*	Ethiopia Kenya	6,405 km2 (2,473 sq mi)	248 km (154 mi)	109 m (358 ft)	It is the world's largest permanent desert lake and the world's largest alkaline lake.
23	Reindeer Lake	Canada	6,330 km2 (2,440 sq mi)	245 km (152 mi)	337 m (1,106 ft)
24	Issyk-Kul*	Kyrgyzstan	6,200 km2 (2,400 sq mi)	182 km (113 mi)	668 m (2,192 ft)
25	Urmia*	Iran	6,001 km2 (2,317 sq mi)	130 km (81 mi)	16 m (52 ft)	Largest lake in the Mid East
26	Vänern	Sweden	5,545 km2 (2,141 sq mi)	140 km (87 mi)	106 m (348 ft)	The largest lake in the EU
27	Winnipegosis	Canada	5,403 km2 (2,086 sq mi)	245 km (152 mi)	18 m (59 ft)
28	Albert	Uganda Democratic Republic of the Congo	5,299 km2 (2,046 sq mi)	161 km (100 mi)	58 m (190 ft)
29	Mweru	Zambia Democratic Republic of the Congo	5,120 km2 (1,980 sq mi)	131 km (81 mi)	27 m (89 ft)
30	Nettilling	Canada	5,066 km2 (1,956 sq mi)	113 km (70 mi)	132 m (433 ft)	On Baffin Island. Largest lake on an island.
31	South Aral Sea*	Kazakhstan Uzbekistan	5,000 km2 (1,900 sq mi)	195 km (121 mi)	45 m (148 ft)	In 1960, the Aral Sea was the world's fourth-largest lake at 68,000 km2. The west basin of the South Aral Sea may be expected to stabilize at approx. 5,000 km2; as of 2009, the east basin had essentially dried up.
32	Nipigon	Canada	4,843 km2 (1,870 sq mi)	116 km (72 mi)	165 m (541 ft)	Largest lake entirely within the Canadian province of Ontario.
33	Manitoba	Canada	4,706 km2 (1,817 sq mi)	225 km (140 mi)	7 m (23 ft)
34	Great Salt Lake*	United States	4,662 km2 (1,800 sq mi)	121 km (75 mi)	10 m (33 ft)	Largest lake entirely within the United States if Michigan-Huron is considered a single lake. Also the largest lake entirely within a single U.S. state.
35	Qinghai Lake*	China	4,489 km2 (1,733 sq mi) (2007)			Largest lake in East Asia
36	Saimaa	Finland	≈ 4,400 km2 (1,700 sq mi)		82 m (269 ft)	Numerous basins; 14,000 islands, shoreline 13,700 km (8,500 mi)
37	Lake of the Woods	Canada United States	4,350 km2 (1,680 sq mi)	110 km (68 mi)	64 m (210 ft)
38	Khanka	China Russia	4,190 km2 (1,620 sq mi)		10.6 m (35 ft)

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