The most famous of Russia's fresh water lakes is Lake Baikal. It's the world's purest freshwater lake and contains over one fifth of the world's fresh surface water. Lake Baikal is located in the south of Eastern Siberia. Lake Baikal stretches from southwest to northeast between 55 ° 47 'and 51 ° 28' north latitude and 103 ° 43 'and 109 ° 58' east longitude.
The lake is 636 km at it's maximum width and is situated at an altitude of 455 meters above sea level. Lake Baikal has a shoreline of about 1,850 km of which more than half of the shoreline is protected by conservation organizations. Baikal has a water surface area of 31,470 square kilometers, a maximum depth of 1637 meters and an average depth of 730 meters. 336 permanent rivers and streams flow into Baikal, however, the only river flowing out of the lake is the River Angara. Lake Baikal - the deepest lake in the world has 30 islands, the biggest of which being Olkhon Island. Baikal is a very ancient lake, estimated to be 20 - 25 million years old making it the oldest lake in the world. It is believed that Lake Baikal is the result of tectonic forces, the processes of which are manifested in the high seismic activity of the Baikal region.
The origin of the lake's name comes from the Turkish Bai-Kul which means rich lake.
The water of Lake Baikal is extremely transparent, pure and saturated with oxygen. In the not so distant past it was considered to have curing properties and was recommended in the treatment of disease.
In the spring Baikal water transparency is up to 40 meters. Later, when massive algae start blooming, water clarity decreases. This high visibility is due to the fact that the Baikal water, thanks to the activities of the living organisms that inhabit it, is very low in minerals and it's pureness is close to distilled water.
The huge mass of water contained in Lake Baikal and its mountainous surroundings create a unique microclimate. Lake Baikal works as a large heat stabilizer - the winter is warmer at Baikal, and in summer a little cooler. The temperature difference is usually about 10 °C. A significant contribution to this effect is provided by the forests, growing along almost the entire coast of Lake Baikal.
Due to the fact that the water evaporation from the lake surface is very small, clouds over Lake Baikal rarely form. In addition, when air masses bring clouds from the land, heat is transferred from the coastal mountains and the clouds dissipate.
The annual average temperature of the surface water of the lake is +4 °C. Near the coast in summer the temperature reaches +16-17 °C and in the shallow bays as high a+22-23 °C.
Lake Baikal almost always has a wind blowing. Waves on Lake Baikal can reach a height of up to 4 meters, mostly in the fall (autumn) and spring. In summer the lakes surface is often calm.
In and around Lake Baikal are found more than 2,600 species and varieties of animals and 1,000 species of plant organisms with new species being discovered on a regular basis. It is believed that at present only 70-80% of species of living organisms that inhabit the waters of Lake Baikal are known to man. About 40% of the plants and about 85% of animal species inhabiting Lake Baikal are found only in Lake Baikal.
The lake has 58 species of fish. The most famous being cisco, whitefish, grayling, trout and sturgeon.
On the shores of Lake Baikal there are about 2,000 species of plant and 200 species of bird nest.
A unique marine mammal inhabits the lake, the Baikal seal, thought to have been stranded in the lake from the Arctic Ocean in glacial times.
Lake Baikal has been included in the list of Natural World Heritage since December 5th, 1996 at the 20th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee.