Largest lakes & reservoirs in by shoreline length
This is a comparison for lakes within - Compared by Longest Shoreline Length in miles.Note: For some lakes, "Longest Shorelines" data is unknown or does not apply, so this table may display fewer lakes than the total 2151 articles we have published for lakes.
Search results: Sort lakes by miles of shoreline
Lake name  |
Shoreline length in miles |
Lake description |
|---|---|---|
| Lake of the Woods MB (Canada, Manitoba, Midwest, Minnesota, Northwest, Ontario, USA) |
25,000 mi | Spanning the border from Minnesota into the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Manitoba, Lake of the Woods is an enormous body of water over 68 miles long, 59 miles wide, with 25,000 miles of shoreline – the world’s longest lake shoreline. The western part of the lake is mostly open water, while the… |
| Great Salt Lake (Great Salt Lake Country, Ogden & Northwest, USA, Utah, West) |
10,000 mi | Also known as America's Dead Sea Sometimes called “America’s Dead Sea,” the Great Salt Lake occupies approximately 1,700 square miles of Utah’s real estate. It is the second largest lake (by surface area) that is wholly contained within the USA; only Lake Michigan is larger. Great Salt Lake boasts the USA’s longest lake shoreline -… |
| Lake Saimaa (Finland, Lakeland) |
8,500 mi | Also known as Saimaa Lake, Saimaa Lake District, Saimaa Lake Saimaa, in Finland’s Lakeland Region, is a lake you could spend a lifetime exploring! Nearly 1700 square miles of water and over 13,500 islands make the Saimaa Lake District one of Finland’s most striking water bodies. Created by the last receding glacier, the inter-connected lake basins cover… |
| Lake Nasser (Egypt, Upper Egypt) |
5,592 mi | Also known as Aswah High Dam Reservoir Lake Nasser, in Egypt’s Upper Region, is a modern technological marvel with ancient roots. In Egypt’s extremely arid climate, the Nile and its annual floods have provided fertile sediments since before the time of recorded history. Attempts to dam the Nile have been on-going since at least the year… |
| Lake Michigan-Huron (Canada, Chicagoland, Great Lakes, Illinois, Indiana, Lake Michigan Region, Michigan, Midwest, North, Northeast, Northwest, Ontario, Southwest, USA, Upper Peninsula, West Central, Wisconsin) |
5,463 mi | 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 are connected by the five-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac. Hydrologically, this makes these “two lakes” a single lake. Some hydrologists designate the… |
| Lake Huron (Canada, East Central, Great Lakes, Michigan, Midwest, Northeast, Ontario, USA, Upper Peninsula) |
3,825 mi | 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 incredible 3,825-mile shoreline. The massive lake is the third largest of the Great Lakes by water volume, containing 850 cubic miles of fresh water withi… |
| Bratsk Reservoir (Eastern Siberia, Russia) |
3,728 mi | It has been said that one of the most striking things about Siberia is the scale. Just the name conjures images of vast snowy expanses, impossibly thick forests and incredibly high mountains. Its manmade features maintain the sense of scale, and with well over a million acres of water, Bratsk Reserv… |
| Gouin Reservoir (Canada, Quebec) |
3,510 mi | Also known as Reservoir Gouin When the directions say ‘turn off the paved road’, you know you’re on your way to Gouin Reservoir. Visitors can drive to the lake, but most opt to fly. Although leisurely driving along gravel roads through forests teeming with wildlife is attractive, most visitors are anxious to arrive at the massiv… |
| Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Northern Caucases, Povolzhsky, Russia, Turkmenistan) |
3,467 mi | 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 Sea not as a lake, but as an inland sea. (There is no widely accepted definition of “lake,” but most exclude bodies of saltwater.) Considered by many… |
| Caniapiscau Reservoir (Canada, Quebec) |
3,010 mi | Also known as Lake Caniapiscau “The money is not as useful as the land was before we lost it.” -Chisasibi Cree Native About 9,000 years ago, the glaciers receded on the Laurentian Plateau of the Canadian Shield, leaving pockets of lakes in their wake. The rivers were fast and ran with snowmelt, and lakes covered the landscape. La… |
| Lake Volta (Ghana, Volta Region) |
2,983 mi | Also known as Volta Lake or Volta Reservoir Lake Volta, the world’s fourth largest reservoir, is located in the west African nation of Ghana. Known to locals as Volta Lake, it was built to provide electricity, fresh water and economic opportunities to the people of Ghana. The lake borders the regions of Volta, Central, Brong Ahafo, Ashanti, a… |
| Reservoir Cabonga (Canada, Quebec) |
2,800 mi | Also known as Cabonga Reservoir, Cabonga Lake A trip to Cabonga Reservoir in Quebec is the true definition of ‘getting away from it all’. The massive reservoir covers 261 square miles, but only 187 square miles are water. Islands, peninsulas, and slivers of land between different pools within the reservoir occupy the remaining area. The entire… |
| Lake Superior (Canada, Great Lakes, Lake Superior Northwoods Region, Michigan, Midwest, Minnesota, Northeast, Ontario, USA, Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin) |
2,726 mi | Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes, reigns as the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. By volume, this 31,820 square mile colossus ranks fourth – a whopping 2,900 cubi… |
| Wollaston Lake (Canada, Saskatchewan) |
2,700 mi | Wilderness adventures draw people to Wollaston Lake in northeastern Saskatchewan. Sparsely populated, Wollaston Lake is home to copious amounts of wildlife, birds and freshwater fishing fun. Wollaston is one of a few lakes in Saskatchewan offering anglers the chance to reel in pike, lake trout, wall… |
| Kentucky Lake (Kentucky, South, Tennessee, USA, West, Western Waterlands) |
2,380 mi | Kentucky Lake is the largest man-made lake east of the Mississippi when measured by surface acres at “full pond,” the normal water level: 184 miles long, 2 miles wide, 160,309 surface acres, and 2,380 miles of shoreline! The lake stretches south across the western tip of Kentucky into Tennessee. Ken… |
| Lake Oahe (Great Lakes Region, Midwest, North Dakota, South Central, South Dakota, Southwest, USA) |
2,250 mi | Lake Oahe, named after an Oahe Indian Mission, roughly translates “a foundation” or “a place to stand on.” Spanning 231 miles from Pierre, South Dakota to Bismarck, North Dakota, and with a shoreline of 2,250 miles, it is no wonder Lake Oahe is the nation’s largest constructed reservoir in surface a… |
| Lake Victoria (African Great Lakes, Central, Kagera, Kenya, Mara, Mwanza, Nyanza, Tanzania, Uganda, Western) |
2,138 mi | 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 by surface area, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Joined by five others, La… |
| Great Slave Lake (Canada, Northwest Territories) |
1,900 mi | 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 lake, it is located in south-central Northwest Territories (NWT). Located just south of the Arctic Circle, Great Slave Lake is frozen about five and a h… |
| Lake Powell (Arizona, Canyonlands, Color Country, North Central, Southwest, USA, Utah, West) |
1,900 mi | Lake Powell is located in one of Southern Utah’s most picturesque red-rock desert areas and in Arizona’s Navajo Indian Reservation. It is one of the USA’s most scenic reservoirs. At “full pond” (normal water level) it is the second-largest man-made reservoir in the USA by volume – but drought can re… |
| Smallwood Reservoir (Canada, Newfoundland and Labrador) |
1,756 mi | Wild, diverse and always impressive, Smallwood Reservoir is not a place to be taken lightly. Smallwood Reservoir is not a place for leisurely lakeside strolls and gourmet candlelight dinners. The area is best described in the provincial tourism brochure, where it says this is a land for the traveler… |
| Lake Inari (Finland, Lapland) |
1,724 mi | Also known as Lake Inarijarvi Lake Inari, in the Lapland area of northern Finland, is a hot fishing destination. Also called Lake Inarijarvi, the huge lake near the northern tip of Finland is well-known as an ideal fishing lake for brown trout, lake trout, grayling, Arctic char, perch and whitefish. The third-largest lake in Fin… |
| Great Bear Lake (Canada, Northwest Territories) |
1,690 mi | 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 Canada. Great Bear Lake is on the Arctic Circle and ice-covered eight months out of the year. With an area of over 7 million acres and more than 26 isl… |