Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal lies in southern Siberia, Russia, between Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Republic of Buryatia to the southeast. It is about 636 kilometres long and up to 79 kilometres wide. UNESCO inscribed it as a World Heritage Site in 1996.

Baikal is a rift lake formed in a widening crack in the earth's crust, and at around 25 million years old it is considered the oldest lake on earth. Its maximum depth of 1,642 metres makes it the deepest lake in the world, and it holds about 20 percent of the world's unfrozen fresh surface water.

The water is very clear, with visibility of up to 40 metres in places. Isolation has produced unusual wildlife, including the Baikal seal, or nerpa, one of the only freshwater seals in the world, and the omul fish. Olkhon Island, the largest island in the lake, is sacred to the Buryat people and is known for Shaman Rock.

Most visitors start in Irkutsk, about 70 kilometres from the lake, and travel to Listvyanka on the shore or north to Olkhon Island. The Circum-Baikal Railway follows the southern shore. In winter, from about January to March, the lake freezes thick enough for walking and driving on the ice, and its clear blue ice draws photographers.

What makes Baikal's wildlife unusual? Isolation over millions of years has produced hundreds of species found nowhere else. The nerpa is the best known, but the lake also holds two endemic whitefish, the omul and Coregonus baicalensis, and the Baikal black and white graylings. A tiny endemic crustacean, Epischurella baikalensis, makes up most of the plankton and filters huge volumes of water, which helps keep the lake so clear.

Smoked omul is sold at markets around the shore, including the fish market at Listvyanka, and is the dish most visitors try. Fishing pressure and pollution have reduced omul stocks, and Russia has restricted commercial catches in recent years.

History along the shore. The Cossack explorer Kurbat Ivanov was the first Russian to reach the lake, in 1643. The Angara is the only river that flows out of Baikal, leaving the lake beside Listvyanka and running north past Irkutsk. More than 300 rivers and streams flow in, the largest being the Selenga from Mongolia.

Travel conditions for foreign visitors to Russia change often, including flight routes, sanctions on card payments and visa rules. Check your government's travel advice and the current e-visa conditions before planning a trip, and carry cash in roubles, as foreign cards do not work in Russia.