The ten deepest natural lakes on Earth, ranked by maximum depth in meters — from Siberia's mile-deep Baikal to the glacier-carved fjord-lakes of Patagonia.
Quick answer: 1. Lake Baikal, 2. Lake Tanganyika, 3. Caspian Sea, 4. O'Higgins/San Martin Lake, 5. Lake Argentino, 6. Lake Malawi, 7. Issyk-Kul, 8. Great Slave Lake, 9. Crater Lake, 10. Lake Matano.
Some lakes are shallow enough to wade across; a handful plunge deeper than the tallest buildings on Earth stacked underwater. This list ranks the world's deepest natural lakes by their maximum measured depth, drawing on bathymetric surveys and authoritative geographic sources. It's a tour of the planet's great rifts and gouges: tectonic cracks in Siberia and East Africa where the crust is pulling apart, remnants of an ancient sea, glacier-carved fjord-lakes in Patagonia, and a caldera left by a collapsed American volcano. For anyone curious about how deep a lake can actually get — and where those record-holders sit — this is the ranked answer.
At 1,642 m, Baikal is by a wide margin the deepest lake on Earth and the only one more than a mile deep. This tectonic rift lake in southern Siberia is also the oldest lake in the world and holds roughly 23,600 km3 of water — the largest freshwater volume of any lake.
The world's second-deepest lake at 1,470 m and Africa's deepest, Tanganyika formed in the East African Rift. It is also the second-largest freshwater lake by volume (~18,750 km3), trailing only Baikal.
Despite its name, the Caspian is technically a lake — the largest inland body of water on Earth by surface area (~371,000 km2). Its deepest point, 1,025 m, lies in the southern basin.
This glacial finger lake straddles the Chile-Argentina border in Patagonia, reaching 836 m. Its extreme depth was revealed by soundings in its narrow, fjord-like arms.
The largest freshwater lake in Argentina, this glacier-fed Patagonian lake reaches 719 m — a depth confirmed by a 2001 survey of its fjord-like western basin. It sits within Los Glaciares National Park and is fed by meltwater from surrounding glaciers.
Also called Lake Nyasa, this 706 m-deep lake is a second major East African Rift lake. It is famous for hosting more fish species than any other lake on Earth.
An endorheic saline lake high in Kyrgyzstan's Tian Shan mountains, Issyk-Kul reaches 668 m. It never freezes despite the altitude, which gives it its name — 'warm lake'.
The deepest lake in North America at 614 m, Great Slave's deepest point lies in Christie Bay in its eastern arm — far deeper than the shallower main western basin.
The deepest lake in the United States at 594 m, Crater Lake fills the caldera of the collapsed volcano Mount Mazama. Its depth was measured at 594 m (1,949 ft) using data from a 2000 bathymetric survey.
At 590 m, Matano is the deepest lake in Indonesia and the deepest lake on any island. This ancient tectonic lake on Sulawesi is home to high endemic biodiversity.
| # | Name | location | surfaceArea_km2 | lakeType |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lake Baikal | Russia (Siberia) | 31722 | Tectonic rift |
| 2 | Lake Tanganyika | Tanzania / DR Congo / Burundi / Zambia | 32900 | Tectonic rift |
| 3 | Caspian Sea | Kazakhstan / Russia / Azerbaijan / Iran / Turkmenistan | 371000 | Endorheic (remnant sea) |
| 4 | O'Higgins/San Martin Lake | Chile / Argentina | 1013 | Glacial |
| 5 | Lake Argentino | Argentina | 1415 | Glacial |
| 6 | Lake Malawi | Malawi / Mozambique / Tanzania | 29600 | Tectonic rift |
| 7 | Issyk-Kul | Kyrgyzstan | 6236 | Endorheic (mountain) |
| 8 | Great Slave Lake | Canada | 27200 | Glacial |
| 9 | Crater Lake | United States (Oregon) | 53 | Volcanic caldera |
| 10 | Lake Matano | Indonesia (Sulawesi) | 164 | Tectonic |
Lakes are ranked by maximum depth in meters (deepest = rank 1), as reported by bathymetric surveys and authoritative geographic sources compiled in Wikipedia's "List of lakes by depth" and each lake's dedicated article. Inclusion is limited to natural surface lakes with a measured (surveyed) maximum depth. Subglacial lakes (such as Lake Vostok, buried under Antarctic ice) and lakes whose depth is only a rough glacial estimate rather than a survey (such as Lake Viedma) are excluded, since their figures aren't directly comparable. Where a lake straddles borders, its full name and shared jurisdictions are given. Depth is the single ranking metric; surface area, location, and lake type are shown for context but do not affect the order.
Lake Baikal in southern Siberia, Russia, at a maximum depth of about 1,642 meters (roughly 5,387 feet). It is the only lake on Earth more than a mile deep, and it also holds the largest freshwater volume of any lake.
Lake Vostok is a subglacial lake buried beneath about 4 kilometers of Antarctic ice, not a natural surface lake, so it falls outside this list's inclusion criteria. This ranking covers only open, natural surface lakes measured by bathymetric survey.
Crater Lake in Oregon, at about 594 meters (1,949 feet), measured using data from a 2000 bathymetric survey. It fills the caldera left by the collapse of the volcano Mount Mazama and ranks ninth deepest in the world.
Yes — despite its name, the Caspian Sea is technically an endorheic lake, the largest inland body of water on Earth by surface area at roughly 371,000 km2. Its deepest point, in the southern basin, reaches about 1,025 meters, making it the third-deepest lake in the world.