This article lists lakes with a water volume of more than 100 km3, ranked by volume. The volume of a lake is a difficult quantity to measure. Generally, the volume must be inferred from bathymetric data by integration. Lake volumes can also change dramatically over time and during the year, especially for salt lakes in arid climates. For these reasons, and because of changing research, information on lake volumes can vary considerably from source to source. The base data for this article are from The Water Encyclopedia (1990). Where volume data from more recent surveys or other authoritative sources have been used, that usage is referenced in the respective entry. The total volume of Earth's lakes is 199,000 km3.
The list The volumes of the lakes below vary little by season. This list does not include reservoirs; if it did, six reservoirs would appear on the list: Lake Kariba at 26th, Bratsk Reservoir, Lake Volta, Lake Nasser, Manicouagan Reservoir, and Lake Guri.
Estuaries and lagoons are not included either. Examples: Lake Melville (estuary) and Lake Maracaibo (lagoon), comparable with Lagoa dos Patos.
Continent color keyAfricaAntarcticaAsiaEurasiaEuropeNorth AmericaSouth America
Name CountryRegion Surface area Volume SalinityCaspian SeaThe Caspian Sea is generally regarded by geographers, biologists and limnologists as a huge inland salt lake. It is endorheic (having no outlet), and can be compared to other large (but still much smaller) endorheic salt lakes, such as the Aral Sea, Great Salt Lake and Lake Van. However, the Caspian's large size means that for some purposes it is better modeled as a sea. Geologically, the Caspian, Black, and Mediterranean seas are remnants of the ancient Tethys Ocean. Politically, the distinction between a sea and a lake may affect how the Caspian is treated by international law. Caspian endorheic basin1.2%BaikalLake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world and the largest freshwater lake by volume.Southern Siberia: Buryatia and Irkutsk OblastFresh Tanganyika African Great Lakes Fresh Superior North American Great LakesFresh Malawi African Great LakesFreshVostokUnder the East Antarctic Ice Sheet5,400±1,600 km3 (~1,300 cu mi)Fresh Michigan North American Great LakesFreshHuron North American Great LakesFreshVictoria African Great LakesFresh Great BearNorthwest TerritoriesFresh Issyk-KulTien Shan Mountains0.6%Ontario North American Great LakesFresh Great SlaveNorthwest TerritoriesFresh Titicaca Puno Region (Peru) and La Paz Department (Bolivia)Fresh LadogaLeningrad Oblast and Republic of KareliaFreshGeneral Carrera-Buenos Aires General Carrera Province (Chile) and Santa Cruz Province (Argentina)Fresh Kivu African Great LakesFresh Van<ref name=Degens_1984>
</ref>Armenian Highlands2.3% Erie North American Great LakesFresh KhövsgölNearby the eastern, Sayan MountainsFresh Winnipeg Manitoba Fresh Onega Leningrad Oblast, Vologda Oblast and Republic of Karelia Fresh Nipigon Ontario Fresh TobaAlthough some parts of Indonesia are often regarded as belonging to Oceania, Sumatra and Lake Toba are generally placed in Asia. Sumatra Fresh Nueltin Nunavut and ManitobaFresh Argentino Santa Cruz Province Fresh Athabasca Saskatchewan and AlbertaFreshConcordia Antarctic Plateau + or - Fresh Turkana African Great Lakes0.24% Llanquihue Llanquihue Province and Osorno ProvinceFresh Vänern Västergötland, Dalsland, VärmlandFreshTahoeCalifornia and NevadaFresh Mistassini<ref name="DoddsWhiles2010"/>QuebecFresh Albert African Great LakesFresh NettillingNunavut (Baffin Island) FreshFagnano Tierra del FuegoFreshViedma Santa Cruz ProvinceFresh IliamnaAlaskaFresh Dead Sea Southern District, West Bank, Balqa Governorate, Madaba Governorate and Karak Governorate (decreasing)34% (increasing)Baker<ref name="DoddsWhiles2010"/>NunavutFresh ReindeerSaskatchewan and ManitobaFresh NicaraguaRivas Department, Granada Department and Río San Juan DepartmentFresh Qinghai<ref name="DoddsWhiles2010"/>Qinghai Province1.4% (variable)BalkhashKaraganda Region, Jambyl Region and Almaty Region (decreasing)0.3% (variable)
In 1960, the Aral Sea was the world's twelfth-largest known lake by volume, at . However, by 2007 it had shrunk to 10% of its original volume and was divided into three lakes, none of which are large enough to appear on this list.
By continent Africa: Tanganyika Antarctica: Vostok Asia: Baikal Eurasia: Caspian Sea Europe: Ladoga North America: Superior Oceania: Taupō Australia: Eyre, native designation: Kati Thanda South America: Titicaca
See also
List of lakes by area List of lakes by depth List of largest lakes of Europe
Notes and references Notes
References