The Great Escape: Lake Baikal, Russia

There are so many interesting facts about Lake Baikal it is hard to pick a starting point. This amazing lake is located in a remote area of Siberia. The lake starts to receive snowfall around November, which varies from year to year, and is frozen-over with ice for about five months out of the year, from January to May. When the lake freezes, it creates remarkable marble-looking cracks that would be a photographers dream to capture. Since Lake Baikal is the purest fresh-water lake on the planet, when the ice freezes it becomes transparent (see pictures below). The water is so clear that it is not uncommon to be able to see up to 130 feet down. Not only is Lake Baikal the deepest lake in the world, it is also the largest volume of fresh water on earth; it is approximately 1/5 of the world's fresh water, or about 20 percent. Lake Baikal is the world's most ancient fresh water lake dating back anywhere from 25-35 million years old. The lake is fed from over 300 rivers and streams, some of which are seasonal. Even though there are numerous streams and rivers that feed into the lake, the largest one being the Selegna River, there is only one outlet, the Angara River. There are a plethora of islands within the lake (anywhere from 27-45 depending on your source) and the majority of them are uninhabited. More than half of the lake's species are unique to the lake, which is about 1,455 species. Lake Baikal endures around 2,000 earthquakes per year, therefor, the surrounding mountains are constantly moving up and down in response to the changing faults. With the number of intriguing details that I have discussed thus far, this is just the "tip of the iceberg" so to speak about all the amazing facts that can be learned about Lake Baikal. If I were to touch on each one, I could go on for days; which is why I have provided a link down below all of the exquisite photos for those of you who are interesting in reading the rest on the facts about Lake Baikal that I have not discussed.

One last fun fact: "During the Russo-Japanese war in 1904-05, the lake's ice was so thick the Russians were able to lay a railway straight across it and transport supplies to the battle front throughout the winter."

*Scroll down to learn about the 37 interesting facts about Lake Baikal