Lake Baikal
Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas, which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science.
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Lake Baikal is a freshwater ecosystem that is the deepest and oldest lake in the world, and the 2nd largest lake on the earth by volume. It lies in Southern Siberia near the city of Irkutsk. It contains over one fifth of the world's liquid fresh surface water and more than 90% of Russia's liquid fresh surface water.
Besides the lake itself, the designated area also includes its catchment basin, the river-head of the Angarar river and the Irkutsk water reservoir. The lake is completely surrounded by mountains.
Notable fauna includes the endemic Baikal seal and fish species like the omul and the Baikal oil fish.
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