Lake Baikal

The vast, uninhabited territory of Russia can offer many diverse natural scenes and interesting tourist attractions. On this rich on cultural diversity and natural resources land is Lake Baikal, which is unique. It is the largest, deepest and simultaneously the oldest freshwater lake on our planet. In 1996, because of its vast biodiversity, Baikal was included in the List of World Heritage Sites, by UNESCO.

This huge basin is located in Eastern Siberia, the boundaries are between Irkutsk, which is northwest, and Buryatia, in a southeasterly direction. The most convenient way to visit the lake is taking an airplane from the airport in Moscow and landing in Irkutsk airport. From there, transport is either by bus or by car or train to town Listvyanka.

To get an idea of capacity and scale of the Baikal one should know that all the world's rivers have a year to run into it in order to be able to fill it. Its area is 31.5 thousand square kilometers and the volume of water weight - 23 000 cubic km. With this capacity concentrated in the Siberian lake itself holds 20 of every 100 of the non-freezing freshwater resources of our planet.

Lake Baikal is located in a highly seismic area and earthquakes are not uncommon here.

The reason for this is that it is located on Mainland Fault, which extends about 2 cm each year. Its coastal strip reaches a record 2100 km, and its very length is 636 km. Between 25 and 80 km. is the variation of its width. The deepest point of the lake is located 1637 m below sea level, making it the deepest freshwater lake on our planet. However, the volume of Lake Baikal is not enough to overtake the record in this discipline - the Caspian Sea.

Some of the amazingly beautiful sights in the area of Lake Baikal there are mountains and forests, and in its water area are located 30 islets. Especially attractive for tourists is mountain Sayano. Visitors to Lake Baikal, which is known as the blue eye of Siberia, must make the trip by boat along the lake.

It is possible to stay at one of the islands of Lake Baikal, for example, Olkhon- where there are excellent conditions for tourists.

This incredible body of water whose age is around 25-30 million years ago, has crystal clear water that allows in places to see up to 50 m depth. In the lake, live more than 2500 species of plants and animals, most of which are not found elsewhere.