One of the questions I most often hear when discussing my book Great Lakes: Fact or Fake? is whether Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world. Well, yes and no.
Lake Superior is the largest lake in the world when measured by surface area. But measured by volume, Russia’s Lake Baikal is by far the largest. In fact, it contains as much water as our five Great Lakes.
How can that be? Just take a look at this image.
Baikal’s deepest point is a little more than a mile; Lake Superior’s is 1,333 feet. But Baikal’s widest point is 49 miles while Superior’s is 160 miles.
It’s a tie for the world’s largest lake.