The 40 largest lakes in the world

The 40 largest lakes on Earth by surface area, with area in square kilometres and square miles, maximum depth, whether the water is fresh or salt, and the countries on the shore. From Wikipedia's list of lakes by area.

Key facts

Largest: Caspian Sea at 389,000 km² (150,194 sq mi), then Lake Superior (82,100 km²) and Lake Victoria (59,940 km²).
Most lakes on the list: Canada, with 15. A lake counts for every country on its shore.
Number 40 is Lake Peipus at 3,555 km².

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The 40 largest lakes in the world. Select a column heading to sort.

1	Caspian Sea	389,000	150,194	1,025 m	Salt	Iran, Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Azerbaijan, Russia
2	Lake Superior	82,100	31,699	406 m	Fresh	Canada, United States
3	Lake Victoria	59,940	23,143	81 m	Fresh	Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya
4	Lake Huron	59,570	23,000	229 m	Fresh	Canada, United States
5	Lake Michigan	57,800	22,317	282 m	Fresh	United States
6	Lake Tanganyika	32,900	12,703	1,470 m	Fresh	Tanzania, Congo - Kinshasa, Burundi, Zambia
7	Lake Baikal	31,722	12,248	1,642 m	Fresh	Russia
8	Great Bear Lake	31,153	12,028	446 m	Fresh	Canada
9	Lake Malawi	29,600	11,429	706 m	Fresh	Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania
10	Great Slave Lake	27,200	10,502	614 m	Fresh	Canada
11	Lake Erie	25,667	9,910	64 m	Fresh	Canada, United States
12	Lake Winnipeg	24,514	9,465	36 m	Fresh	Canada
13	Lake Ontario	19,011	7,340	244 m	Fresh	Canada, United States
14	Lake Ladoga	17,700	6,834	260 m	Fresh	Russia
15	Lake Balkhash	16,400	6,332	26 m	Salt	Kazakhstan
16	Lake Vostok	12,500	4,826	900 m	Fresh	—
17	Lake Onega	9,700	3,745	127 m	Fresh	Russia
18	Titicaca	8,372	3,232	281 m	Fresh	Peru, Bolivia
19	Lake Nicaragua	8,264	3,191	26 m	Fresh	Nicaragua
20	Lake Athabasca	7,850	3,031	124 m	Fresh	Canada
21	Reindeer Lake	6,650	2,568	219 m	Fresh	Canada
22	Lake Turkana	6,405	2,473	109 m	Salt	Kenya, Ethiopia
23	Issyk-Kul	6,236	2,408	668 m	Salt	Kyrgyzstan
24	Vänern	5,650	2,181	106 m	Fresh	Sweden
25	Lake Rukwa	5,615	2,168	22.49 m	Salt	Tanzania
26	Lake Albert	5,590	2,158	51 m	Fresh	Uganda, Congo - Kinshasa
27	Nettilling Lake	5,542	2,140	132 m	Fresh	Canada
28	Lake Winnipegosis	5,370	2,073	12 m	Fresh	Canada
29	Lake Mweru	5,120	1,977	27 m	Fresh	Zambia, Congo - Kinshasa
30	Lake Nipigon	4,848	1,872	165 m	Fresh	Canada
31	Lake Manitoba	4,706	1,817	7 m	Salt	Canada
32	Taymyr	4,560	1,761	26 m	Fresh	Russia
33	Qinghai Lake	4,489	1,733	32.8 m	Salt	China
34	Saimaa	4,380	1,691	82 m	Fresh	Finland
35	Lake of the Woods	4,350	1,680	64 m	Fresh	Canada, United States
36	Khanka	4,190	1,618	10.6 m	Fresh	Russia, China
37	Sarygamysh Lake	3,955	1,527	40 m	Salt	Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan
38	Dubawnt Lake	3,833	1,480	—	Fresh	Canada
39	Lake Van	3,755	1,450	451 m	Salt	Türkiye
40	Lake Peipus	3,555	1,373	15.3 m	Fresh	Estonia, Russia

Source: Wikipedia: List of lakes by area · Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data as of November 2026 · Collected 2026-11-09

About this ranking

The Caspian Sea is counted as a lake: it has no outlet to the ocean, though its water is salty and it is often called the world's largest sea. Lakes Michigan and Huron are joined by a wide strait and are one lake by hydrology, but they are listed separately here, as they usually are. Lake Vostok lies under nearly 4 km of Antarctic ice.

Areas, depths and water types come from the English Wikipedia list (CC BY-SA 4.0); names in each language come from Wikidata (CC0). Reservoirs are not included. Lakes in dry regions change size with the seasons and the years, so their area is a typical figure.

FAQ

What is the largest lake in the world?

Caspian Sea, at 389,000 km² (150,194 sq mi). Counting the Caspian as a sea instead, the largest is Lake Superior at 82,100 km².

What is the largest freshwater lake?

By area, Lake Superior. By volume, Lake Baikal in Siberia, which is also the deepest lake on Earth at about 1,642 m and holds around a fifth of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water.

Which country has the most large lakes?

Canada: 15 of the 40 lakes on this list touch it.

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