With an average depth of 744.4 m, Lake Baikal nicknamed as Old Sister of Sister Lakes, is the world’s oldest and deepest of lakes found in Siberia containing around 20% of the world's unfrozen surface fresh water. With a surface area of 31,722 km2, Lake Baikal is crescent in shape and provides living space o more than 1700 species of plants and animals and most of which are only found within the lake. On the eastern side of the lake reside the Buryat tribes who rear goats, camels, cattle and sheep. The first ever Russian to reach Lake Baikal was Kurbat Ivanovin.
Lake is formed as a result of the drift created by the Baikal Rift Zone making the Lake Baikal, world’s deepest and the voluminous lake. Its bottom is 1,186.5 m below sea level. The lake lies in the most active and deepest continental rift on Earth and noted that there are hot springs in the area with several earthquakes. Lake is in three basins as North, Central, and South, with depths of about 900, 1600, and 1400 m. The North and Central basins are separated by Academician Ridge while the area around the Selenga Delta and the Buguldeika Saddle separates the Central and South basins.
Completely surrounded by the mountains, the north shore contains 27 islands with Olkhon as the largest of them all. With a rich biodiversity consisting of 1085 species of plants and 1550 species of animals, Lake Baikal is unique in its vegetation and wild life. Epischura baikalensis, Pusa sibirica, Coregonus autumnalis migratorius, Comephorus baicalensis, C. dybowskii, Thymallus arcticus baicalensis, Acipenser baerri baicalensis are some of the fauna we find here.
There are three main access points to the Lake Baikal. Irkutsk is on the Angara River which flows out from the southern tip of Lake Baikal. Severobaikalsk on the northern tip of Lake Baikal is a relatively new town, on Baikal-Amur Mainline railway and Ulan-Ude is about 100 km east of Lake Baikal.
Travellers’ Guide
If you are planning to visit the Lake Baikal, you can access the lake by either of the three access points mentioned above.
.jpg)
