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lake
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Lake Ann in North Cascades National Park, Washington
Join a climate-change research team collecting samples from the bottom of Greenland's Arctic lakes
oil derricks near Baku Upper Peninsula, Michigan Lake Huron in winter Indiana Dunes State Park Kok-Aral Dam Lake Tanganyika Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada. Lake Nyasa
For Students
Jackson Lake, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming.
lake summary
Quizzes
water glass on white background. (drink; clear; clean water; liquid)
Water and its Varying Forms
Mt. Elbrusvolcano, Western Caucasus mountain range, Russia. (dormant Russia)
Natural Wonders
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International Waters
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9 of the World’s Deepest Lakes
Lake Mead (the impounded Colorado River) at the Hoover Dam. The light-coloured band of rock above the shoreline shows the decrease in water level in the first few years of the 21st century.
6 Lakes That Are Drying Up
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Diverse elementary school children wearing school uniforms running outside of school. Boys girls
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Thanksgiving Turkey with all the sides
Why Do We Eat Turkey on Thanksgiving?
A human Inuit skull in a stone chambered cairn in Ilulissat in Greenland. These ancient graves are pre christian and are at least 2000
14 Tough Questions Answered
A Factory Interior, watercolor, pen and gray ink, graphite, and white goache on wove paper by unknown artist, c. 1871-91; in the Yale Center for British Art. Industrial Revolution England
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Thumbnail for flags that look alike quiz Russia, Slovenia, Iceland, Norway
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Super Typhoon Noru over the western tropical Pacific Ocean as observed by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA Aqua satellite July 31 2017
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Major natural lakes of the world

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Also known as: inland sea, landlocked sea
Written by
Robert K. Lane
Regional Director, Western and Northern Region, Environmental Protection Service, Environment Canada, Edmonton, Alberta. Head, Physical Limnology Section, Canada Centre for Inland Water, Burlington, Ontario,...
Robert K. Lane
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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News •

Police Searching for Missing Army Veteran After Car Found in Lake • Nov. 20, 2024, 1:11 PM ET (Newsweek)
Kari Lake Floats Election Interference Claims in First Remarks Since Loss • Nov. 12, 2024, 11:48 PM ET (Newsweek)
Gallego projected to beat Lake in US Senate race in Arizona • Nov. 11, 2024, 8:13 PM ET (BBC)
Meghan McCain's Post Mocking Kari Lake Takes Off Online • Nov. 10, 2024, 4:59 AM ET (Newsweek)
At least 40 soldiers killed in attack on a military base • Oct. 29, 2024, 5:01 AM ET (The Gleaner)

A list of major natural lakes of the world is provided in the table.

Major natural lakes of the world
name and location area1
sq mi sq km
1Conversions for rounded figures have been rounded, thousands to the nearest hundred and hundreds to the nearest ten.
2Salt lake.
3Area of lake varies according to season; figure given represents area when the surface is at an elevation of about 920 feet (280 metres).
4In the early 21st century the area was reported as 580 square miles (1,500 square km).
oil derricks near Baku
 Caspian Sea, Turkmenistan–Kazakhstan–Russia–Azerbaijan–Iran2 149,200 386,400
Upper Peninsula, Michigan
 Lake Superior, Canada–United States 31,700 82,100
Lake Victoria, Kenya–Tanzania–Uganda 26,828 69,485
Lake Huron in winter
 Lake Huron, Canada–United States 23,000 59,600
Indiana Dunes State Park
 Lake Michigan, United States 22,300 57,800
Kok-Aral Dam
 Aral Sea, Kazakhstan–Uzbekistan2 13,000 33,800
Dugout canoe on the shore of Lake Tanganyika, Tanzania
 Lake Tanganyika, Burundi–Tanzania–Congo (Dem. Rep.)–Zambia 12,700 32,900
Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada.
 Great Bear Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada 12,028 31,153
Lake Nyasa
 Lake Nyasa (Malawi), Malawi–Mozambique–Tanzania 11,430 29,604
dogsledding across Great Slave Lake
 Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, Canada 11,031 28,570
Lake Erie
 Lake Erie, Canada–United States 9,910 25,667
Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba
 Lake Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada 9,417 24,390
Lake Ontario
 Lake Ontario, Canada–United States 7,340 19,010
Chad: natron
 Lake Chad, Cameroon–Chad–Niger–Nigeria3, 4 6,875 17,800