09. Lake Malawi



Countries with shoreline —  Tanzania, Mozambique, Malawi
Area — 30,044 km2 (11,600 sq mi)
Length — 579 km (360 mi)
Maximum depth — 706 m (2,316 ft)
Water volume — 8,400 km3 (2,000 cu mi)

Lake Malawi  is an African Great Lake and the southernmost lake in the East African Rift system, located between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. The third largest and second deepest lake in Africa, it is also the ninth largest in the world. It is reportedly the habitat of more species of fish than any other body of freshwater, including more than 1000 species of cichlids, and was officially declared a reserve by the Government of Mozambique on June 10, 2011.

07. Lake Baikal



 Countries with shoreline — Russia
Area — 31,500 km2 (12,200 sq mi)
Length — 636 km (395 mi)
Maximum depth — 1,637 m (5,371 ft)
Water volume — 23,600 km3 (5,700 cu mi)

Lake Baikal is a rift lake in the south of the Russian region of Siberia, between the Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Buryat Republic to the southeast.

Lake Baikal is the most voluminous freshwater lake in the world, containing roughly 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water, and at 1,642 m (5,387 ft), the deepest.It is also among the clearest of all lakes, and thought to be the world's oldest lake at 25 million years.

Similar to Lake Tanganyika, Lake Baikal was formed as an ancient rift valley, having the typical long crescent shape with a surface area of 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi). Baikal is home to more than 1,700 species of plants and animals, two thirds of which can be found nowhere else in the world[10] and 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, rearing goats, camels, cattle and sheep, where the regional average temperatures vary from a minimum of -19 °C (-2 °F) in winter to maximum of 14 °C (57 °F) in summer. Lake Baikal is nicknamed "Older sister of Sister Lakes (Lake Khövsgöl and Lake Baikal)".

05. Lake Michigan



Countries with shoreline — United States
Area — 58,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi)
Length — 494 km (307 mi)
Maximum depth — 281 m (922 ft)
Water volume — 4,900 km3 (1,200 cu mi)

Lake Michigan is one of the five Great Lakes of North America and the only one located entirely within the United States. The other four Great Lakes are shared by the U.S. and Canada. It is the second largest of the Great Lakes by volume and the third largest by surface area, after Lake Superior and Lake Huron (and is slightly smaller than the U.S. state of West Virginia). To the east, its basin is conjoined with that of Lake Huron through the wide Straits of Mackinac, giving it the same surface elevation as its easterly counterpart; the two are technically a single lake. Lake Michigan is bounded, from west to east, by the U.S. states of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The word "Michigan" originally referred to the lake itself, and is believed to come from the Ojibwa word mishigami meaning "great water".

Go to The NEXT Page for More Pictures >>>