Baikal is a tectonic lake located in Russia, in southern Siberia. Is the oldest and deepest lake in the world. It stretches for 636 km and its maximum width is 79 km. The depth, on the other hand, is over 1600 m. Around Baikal there are many mountain ranges called baikalides and tundra. It does not look like commonly known lakes, it looks more like a sea than a lake. It is a reservoir with crystal clear water in which animal species not found in other places live. The surroundings of Baikal are wonderful, raw, wild and beautiful nature - real Siberia. We invite you to meet with the "Blue Eye of Siberia".
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The name of the lake comes from the Mongolian language and means "Lake of Nature".
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The age of Baikal goes back to the oligocene.
The age of Baikal goes back to the oligocene. It is estimated that the lake exists about 25-30 million years. Its creation is associated with the collision of an Indian tectonic plate with Asia. It caused that the so-called the Amur plate began to move away from the Eurasian plate. A gap formed between them, which filled with water and thus Baikal arose.
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The lake is growing by two millimeters a year.
Some scientists say that we are witnessing the birth of a new ocean because in the world of geology is a huge pace.
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The mud layer at the bottom of the lake is about 7 km deep.
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Baikal contains about 22% of all, not frozen fresh surface water in the world.
In the absence of drinking water, Baikal could meet the demand for water for 20% of the world's population.
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It is considered the cleanest lake in the world.
Baikal on each side is surrounded by a mountain range and the shores of the lake consist of steep rocks, which means that the mud does not flow into the lake in large quantities.
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In Baikal there is excellent water transparency, which is 30-40 m in winter and 5-8 m in summer.
The Baikal waters are rich in oxygen even at considerable depths.
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300 different rivers flow into Baikal.
Only one river flows out of it - Angara.
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Baikal is one of the most biodiverse lakes on earth.
It lives in 1340 species of animals, including 745 species of endemic animals and 570 species of plants, including 150 endemic.
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In the Baikal lake, there is the Baikal seal, the only completely freshwater seal in the world.
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In winter, Baikal freezes and the ice cover can be up to 2 m thick.
The ice on Baikal is so transparent that the bottom can be seen at small depths.
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Baikal is a windy and stormy lake.
Longitudinal winds blow here - the kultuk, which creates three-meter waves and the vyerchovik - milder wind, and crosswinds (barguzin, selenga, angara, schelonnyk and others). The coldest and most destructive is gornaja, reaching the strength of a hurricane.
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In 1996, Lake Baikal and adjacent protected areas were enlisted on the UNESCO World Heritage List as areas of exceptional value for evolutionary sciences.
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There are 27 islands on Lake Baikal.
The largest of them is Olkhon, which is the third largest lake island in the world. It is inhabited by about 1500 people - Buryats. The deepest place of Baikal (- 1637 m) is located near the island.
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You can get to Baikal by the Trans-Siberian Railway.
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Lake Baikal and the surrounding area were incorporated into Russia around the 17th century.
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The first known inhabitants of the basin was the Siberian Kurian tribe, who appeared there around the 6th century.
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The first European to visit Lake Baikal was Cossack, Kurbat Ivanov in 1643.
