Largest lakes & reservoirs in by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
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Below are lakes within Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in , only the 2151 lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name  |
Water vol. in ac-ft |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Northern Caucases Region, Russia, Povolzhsky Region, Russia, Russia, Turkmenistan) |
62,424,915,900 ac-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 Baikal, Russia (Eastern Siberia Region, Russia, Russia) |
19,261,440,000 ac-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) |
14,430,694,800 ac-ft | Located in the Western Great Rift Valley of Africa, the crystal clear water of Lake Tanganyika reaches across four countries – Burundi, Zambia, Democr… |
| Lake Superior (Canada, Great Lakes of North America, Lake Superior Northwoods Region, WI, Michigan, Minnesota, Northeast Minnesota, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, Wisconsin) |
9,799,680,000 ac-ft | Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes… |
| Lake Michigan-Huron (Canada, Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northeast Michigan, Northwest Michigan, Ontario, Canada, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
6,858,776,000 ac-ft | Lake Michigan and Lake Huron – two of North America’s Great Lakes – are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They… |
| 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) |
6,809,990,827 ac-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… |
| Lake Michigan (Chicagoland Region, IL, Great Lakes of North America, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, WI, Michigan, North Indiana, Northwest Michigan, Southwest Michigan, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI, West Central Michigan, Wisconsin) |
3,987,456,000 ac-ft | As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, India… |
| Lake Huron (Canada, East Central Michigan, Great Lakes of North America, Michigan, Northeast Michigan, Ontario, Canada, US Midwest Region, USA, Upper Peninsula Region, MI) |
2,872,320,000 ac-ft | A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incr… |
| Lake Victoria, African Great Lakes (African Great Lakes, Central Uganda, Kagera Region, Tanzania, Kenya, Mara Region, Tanzania, Mwanza Region, Tanzania, Nyanza Region, Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Western Region, Kenya) |
2,229,461,280 ac-ft | (Also known as Victoria Nyanza, Victoria Ukerewe, Victoria Nalubaale) Lake Victoria — also known as Victoria Nyanza, Ukerewe, and Nalubaale — rakes in the superlatives: it is the largest lake on the African continent b… |
| Great Bear Lake, NT (Canada, Northwest Territories, Canada) |
1,812,754,700 ac-ft | Great Bear Lake is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a natural lake, encircled by wilderness, and the largest lake completely in C… |
| Issyk Kul (Kyrgyzstan) |
1,409,025,024 ac-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… |
| Lake Ontario (Canada, Finger Lakes Region, NY, Great Lakes of North America, Greater Niagara Region, NY, New York, Ontario, Canada, Thousand Islands Region, NY, US Mid-Atlantic Region, USA) |
1,328,025,600 ac-ft | Lake Ontario, one of the world’s five Great Lakes, weaves over state and country borders, delighting Americans, Canadians, and visiting tourists with… |