Hövsgöl Lake, lake in northern Mongolia. With an area of 1,012 square miles (2,620 square km), it is Mongolia’s largest freshwater lake, with depths exceeding 800 feet (244 m). It lies near the Russian border at an elevation of 5,397 feet (1,645 m), at the southern foot of the east Sayan Range. The lake is drained southward by the Egiyn River, which feeds the Selenge River in the Lake Baikal drainage basin. South of the lake lies the Hövsgöl Mountain Range.