Deepest lakes & reservoirs in by maximum depth (ft)
The estimated greatest depth of the water in a lake can be measured at the lake’s normal elevation. If the water volume and surface area of a lake are known, an estimate of the lake’s average depth can be calculated:Water volume ÷ Surface Area = Average Depth
Example: 1,000,000 acre-feet ÷ 20,000 acres = 50 feet average depth.
You can find many of the the world’s deepest lakes on LakeLubbers. If you sort the list, you will find the (maximum depth of) the shallowest lakes in our database. Note: For some lakes, lake depth data is unknown, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
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Below are lakes within Compared by maximum depth in feet. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Max depth in feet |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake Baikal, Russia (Eastern Siberia Region, Russia, Russia) |
5,314 ft | Also known as Lake Baykal, Sacred Sea, Pearl of Siberia, Blue Eye of Siberia, Galapagos of Russia Russia’s national treasure, Lake Baikal, is the world’s deepest lake and is our planet’s largest freshwater lake measured by water volume. Its bottom… |
| Lake Tanganyika, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Burundi, Congo (DRC), Kigoma Region, Tanzania, Rukwa Region, Tanzania, Tanzania, Zambia) |
4,708 ft | Located in the Western Great Rift Valley of Africa, the crystal clear water of Lake Tanganyika reaches across four countries – Burundi, Zambia, Democr… |
| Sognefjord (Norway) |
4,291 ft | Also known as Sognafjord Often called ‘King of the Fjords’, Sognefjord is Norway’s longest fjord. Sognefjord is also the third longest fjord in the world. An amazing 4,291 fee… |
| Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Northern Caucases Region, Russia, Povolzhsky Region, Russia, Russia, Turkmenistan) |
3,363 ft | Also known as Mazandaran Sea, Khazar Sea, Khvalyn Sea With the largest volume of any saltwater “lake” on earth, the Caspian Sea holds well over 62 billion acre-feet of saltwater. Many classify the Caspian… |
| Lake Vostok, Antartica (Antarctica) |
3,000 ft | January 2013 Update: The Russian Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute announced that the Russian team reached lake water ice on January 10, 2013, s… |
| Lago O’Higginsch, Argentina (Argentina, Chile, Patagonia, Argentina, Santa Cruz, Patagonia, South Chile Region) |
2,743 ft | Also known as Lago Bernardo O'Higgins, Lago San Martin Reaching Lago O’Higgins on the Chile/Argentina border takes some effort. Lago O’Higgins is known as Lago San Martin on the Argentina side. Located in… |
| Lake Pinatubo (Central Philippines Region, Philippines) |
2,625 ft | Also known as Lawa ni Apo Malyari Lake Pinatubo was created in the aftermath of the second largest volcanic eruption in the 20th century. Located in the crater of Mount Pinatubo in the… |
| Lake Malawi, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Iringa Region, Tanzania, Malawi, Manda Wilderness Region, Mozambique, Mbeya Region, Tanzania, Mozambique, Ruvuma Region, Tanzania, Tanzania, The Lakeshore Region, Malawi) |
2,316 ft | Also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, Lago Niassa Located in the East African Rift Valley system between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, Lake Malawi — also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Nia… |
| Issyk Kul (Kyrgyzstan) |
2,192 ft | Also known as Ysyk Kol, Issyk-Kol Little-known Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan is poised to become Central Asia’s most famous tourism destination. Popular among citizens of the former USS… |
| Great Slave Lake, NT (Canada, Northwest Territories, Canada) |
2,010 ft | Great Slave Lake is the fifth-largest lake (by acreage) in North America and, following Great Bear Lake, is the second-largest in Canada. A natural la… |
| Crater Lake, OR (Oregon, Southern Oregon, US West Region, USA) |
1,943 ft | Crater Lake is on the crest of the Cascade Range in southern Oregon, about 100 miles from the ocean, and is the centerpiece of Crater Lake National Pa… |
| Lake Matano (Indonesia) |
1,936 ft | Also known as Lake Matana, Danan Matano One of the world’s ten deepest lakes,* Lake Matano on the island of Sulawesi, Indonesia is also one of the most unique. The picturesque, spring-fed la… |
