Lake Baikal facts

Baikal Lake is one of the biggest and the most ancient lakes of world
Baikal holds twenty percent of the earth's fresh water
It is about 636 km long and about 80 km wide
Baikal’s volume is 23,600 km3 at 1,620 meters, it is world's deepest lake
The average temperature of the water is +4 C
Baikal's water is famous for its spiritual and medicinal qualities
Baikal Lake has more endemic species of plants and animals than any other lake in the world.
Baikal Lake is fed by 336 rivers and streams including the Angara, Barguzin, Selenga, Tunka and Snezhnaya
Baikal water is so clean and clear that it permits visibility up to 50 meters downward

For the Russian people Lake Baikal is a natural treasure. Located in Siberia near the Mongolian border, and surrounded by mountains, forests and wild rivers, Baikal is an immense and breathtaking area of physical beauty. Baikal holds twenty percent of the earth's fresh water and harbors more endemic species of plants and animals than any other lake in the world. Fed by 336 rivers and streams including the Angara, Barguzin, Selenga, Tunka and Snezhnaya, the lake holds fifty species of fish including bullhead, sturgeon and omul. A glimpse into the lake's clear water is enough to convince anyone that nature not only exists in Siberia, it flourishes.

The lake's surrounding wild mountains and rivers make the Lake Baikal region an ideal area for engaging in an array of outdoor pursuits including hiking, climbing, whitewater sports, skiing and nature photography. There are also many regional cultural attractions. Today, as in the past, Baikal remains a crossroads of cultures where native peoples still herd reindeer and Buryat people maintain many of their old traditions. The wilds of Siberia also offer a gateway to Mongolia and its ancient and amazing culture. It is hard to imagine that these wilderness areas and exotic cultures are only a five to seven hour jet ride from Moscow or Khabaravsk.

Baikal is not just a lake, but something greater and deeper. It is bottomless and majestic, but not an ocean or sea in which man loses all his visible bearings. There we sense the greatness of nature, feeling at one with it, not alienated from it, which is a rare phenomenon in developed countries. Baikal is a bridge to space. You must see Baikal to be able to say what it is like.

Baikal is the oldest lake on Earth (20—25 mln. years old). It is about 636 km long and about 80 km wide. The length of the coastline is about 2,100 km. There are 30 rocky islands on the lake, the biggest one being Olkhon Island which is more than 130 sq. km in area. Compared with the other great lakes of the world, Lake Baikal is enormous. Lake Tanganyika is half of Baikal's size, and Lake Ladoga is 23 times smaller. Baikal's volume, at 23,600 km3, is greater than any other fresh water lake and makes approximately 20 percent of the world's surface fresh water. As a point of comparison, if you were to drain Lake Baikal, it would take the Great Lakes of the United States: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario to refill the empty basin.

At 1,620 meters, nearly a mile deep, it is without doubt the world's deepest lake. The surface area of all the tributaries that feed lake Baikal is about 560,000 sq. km. Of the 336 rivers and streams flowing into Baikal, only one, the Angara, flows out from it. At different times, researchers have counted varying numbers of tributaries, up to 544 depending on the amount of precipitation during the year.

The creation of Lake Baikal began following a geological cataclysm. Thermal energy deep within the Earth produced tectonic movements, shifting the Earth both horizontally and vertically and producing faults and rifts. These movements created the system of mountainous ridges and deep valleys extending from the North to the East and carved the lake's deep stone basin. Over thousands of years, the basin was filled by water from rain, rivers and streams.

Three factors, the depth of the lake, its huge volume of water, and its geographical position permit Baikal's somewhat unusual process of self-purification. This process produces unbelievably clear water. In fact, travel guides report that this has caused some problems with tourists susceptible to vertigo; some visitors feel uncomfortable when they peer over the side of a boat and are able to see 50 meters downward. The water clearness of Baikal probably concedes only to Crater Lake in Oregon, USA.

Baikal's water, long famous for its spiritual and medicinal qualities, is called «living water.» Unlike all other deep lakes of the world where the lower depths are dead, asphyxiated by hydrogen sulfide and other gases, Lake Baikal's deep waters are blanketed in fresh oxygen. It has only been in the past five years that scientists have discovered thermal springs beating up from the bottom of Baikal. The release of hot, oxygenated water from underwater vents mixed by two horizontal currents and by rising and falling vertical currents may explain why the water is alive with aquatic life.

Besides being exceptionally clear and rich with aquatic life, Baikal's water is cold. Overall, the average temperature of the water is +4 C, but varies like many micro climates depending on location and season. The surface temperature in August in the middle of the lake is about 8 to 10 C and along the coastal line, 14 to 16 C. Below the surface, the water temperature plunges. In August, at a depth of 50 meters, the temperature is about 5 to 6 C, even in summertime. In Kultuk Bay, Chivyrkuysky Bay, Proval Bay, Peschanay Bay and the area called the Small Sea, temperatures climb to between 6 and 18 C, and can reach a balmy 20-24 C.

In the winter, Baikal freezes gradually. By the end of October, shallow bays are covered with ice and after the first few months of winter, the entire surface of the lake freezes. The ice on Baikal's surface is comparatively thin, only one meter thick in most places. The melting process begins in the northwestern part of the lake at the end of April before spreading to other parts of the lake.

In 1996 Baikal was included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Climate and temperature on Baikal

The climate on Baikal and the Baikal territory is unique. The lake’s huge water mass gives it certain features of a seashore climate. Rather significant are the temperature differences between the Baikal hollow and surrounding territories of eastern Siberia. Thus, in Irkutsk the average temperature in December is –25 to –27C, on the shores of Baikal –12 to –27C. In summer, when it is +25C and more in Irkutsk, it is +15 +18C on Baikal. This difference diminishes slightly after the lake freezes, but still remains quite noticeable. Baikal is often called a museum of climate because of the variations that result from differences in distance from the lake, the shape of the coastline, the relief and surface of the shores, the steepness of slopes, their orientations, etc.
Natural Wonders of the Lake Baikal

Baikal flora and fauna is highly endemic. Of 3500 species 84 % are endemic. Many mammals live in the Taiga including the brown bear, elk, moose and deer. Brown bears, the world's largest flesh-eating land mammal and the «Lords of the Taiga,» are found throughout the region, and can be spotted along the shoreline. Elk and deer can be seen more readily, and during the winter, country people set up feeding troughs, almost treating them like domestic pets. Nature Reserves of Baikal Hollow were created to keep unique geosystem of Lake Baikal. They form exclusive «circle» of protected zone almost along all coast (Barguzinsky, Baikalsky, Baikalo-Leninsky Reserves, Pribaikalsky and Zabaikalsky National Parks).

Lake Baikal's Freshwater Seal

Lake Baikal is home to the world's only fresh water seal. The mystery of how the Nerpa came to Baikal still baffles scientists. Apart from being a freshwater reservoir, Lake Baikal is hundreds of miles from any other sea or ocean. Most believe that thousands of years ago, the salt water of the Arctic Ocean stretched into the lower reaches of the Yenisey up to the mouth of the Angara. Many scientists agree that the seal belongs to the Tertiary fauna, and most likely migrated to the region during the early stages of the period when the Baikal Depression formed. It is thought that in search for food, the seals gradually migrated deeper into the mainland. There have been years when scientists have counted nearly one hundred thousand nerpa in and around the lake. Valued for their soft, warm pelts and fat, the seals have been hunted for thousands of years. Archeologists have discovered seal hunting weapons in the cave homes of early seal hunters.

Baikal Fish

Many kinds of fish make Baikal their home, and about 50 are suitable for eating. A delicacy worldwide, the salmon found in Lake Baikal is excellent. While locals use it in many of their favorite dishes, they also enjoy sturgeon, burbot, groundling, oilfish, and bullhead. Pike and perch are easy to catch and very popular.

In addition, grayling and omul are highly recommended. Grayling contains two subspecies, white and black, and many locals prefer the rare white which is said to be larger and tastier. Omul is also found in other Siberian waters and even in the northern parts of the Yenisey River.

Lake Baikal is home to some interesting, but inedible fish. One in particular, the golomyanka, is one of only a few viviparous fish in the world. The small, transparent golomyanka and its cousin, the gobi, live in the lake's cold temperate zone. Since more than half of the golomyanka consists of fat, the fish easily drifts through the icy water. Twenty-seven species of gobi are unique to the lake and found nowhere else on Earth. Caretakers of Lake Baikal

There is an enormous number of small crayfish at Lake Baikal, the distant relatives of the oceanic lobster, crab and shrimp. These tiny crayfish, the Baikal epishura, could be considered the «caretakers» of the lake. While the crayfish is only one and one-half millimeters long, in less than one square meter of the lake's surface scientists have counted up to three million of these creatures. Over the span of a year, this armada of insatiable crayfish is capable of sweeping clean the top 50 meters of the water three times. Another type of crayfish, the gammarid shrimp is twenty times the size of epishura, and destroys practically everything that threatens to pollute the water including dead fish, drowned insects and animals.

Highlights of lake Baikal

It is worth to see real Shaman and his performance. People consider Asia to be a homeland of shamanism. Traveling along Baikal banks or Buryatia you can meet numerous signs of shaman’s religion: obo (stone fences), shaman’s sacred, marked colorful bands untwisted by wind. In every Buryat village people know where their own shaman lives. Modern shaman is a keeper of traditions of his people; he tells legends, supports established traditions and owns the skill of treatment with natural remedies and herbs.

The Old Krugobaikalskaya railroad

Since the beginning of 20th century the 10km part of railroad has been the most complicated part for engineers-builders of TransSib. The work had lasted for 10 years and was finished in 1905. The road is called «The Golden Buckle in steel belt of Russia». The price of one kilometer was 8 times higher than the average price of a TransSib kilometer. The most impressing part with 38 tunnels, numerous galleries, viaducts and bridges is the real piece of engineering mastery. Now it is a historical and architectural territory that is included into Pribaikalsky National Park. Its quiet life is sometimes disturbed by a train of 3 cars with tourists passing there twice a day. The complex Circum-Baikal railroad includes monuments of nature, geology, mineralogy, zoology and biology.

Taltsy Museum of Architecture and Ethnography (Wooden Architecture Museum)

Founded in 1969, the Taltsy museum is conveniently situated on the road to Lake Baikal, 47 km of the Baikal highway. Its 67-hectare territory is surrounded with a protected area. There are over 40 monuments of architectural heritage and 8,000 exhibits of high historical value. Two architectural-ethnographical areas — Russian and Buryat — show a large variety of housing and life of the Siberians. The most valuable monuments in Taltsy are the Savior's gate tower of the ostrog (fort) of Ilimsk (1667) and an active Kazan Chapel (1679). Both of them, as well as the houses near the Angara floodlands, were transferred to this place from the flooded areas of the Ust-Ilimskaya. Take the opportunity to see and be acquainted with the life of old Siberia.

Olkhon Island

Olkhon Island (72km in length) is the biggest island of Baikal lake. The island is the geographical and the sacral center of lake. There is a big quantity of ancient culture sites – site of ancient settlements, burial mounds, and remainders of protective walls. All diversity of nature landscapes of Baikal shores is concentrated here. It takes 7 hours by boat to get to Olkhon from Irkutsk and it is also very comfortable to fly there by helicopter: for 4 hours it is possible to fly from Listvyanka settlement along the western shore of Baikal to the island, fly it around and make a couple of stops in the most interesting places. Listvyanka

The first record of Listvyanka was in 1772. The biggest settlement in the past was a shipyard, where many crafts of Baikal fleet were built. Listvyanka is a small village (population: 1500 people) which stretches 5 km along the shore. The Museum of Limnological Institute is placed here. On the top of the mountain right behind the settlement is the astrophysical observatory. It is possible to enter its territory and look into a telescope on the Sun’s disk with solar prominences. For many travelers Listvyanka’s moorage is the starting-point for a trip along the lake. A ferry to port Baikal is available all year around, so even in wintertime travelers can enjoy excursion along the Angara river. The Limnological museum of Baikal (1928) in Listvyanka will tell you about history exploration of Lake Baikal, flora and fauna. Here you can see Baikal fish, stuffed birds and animals, collection of Baikal minerals. There is a big choice of maps, video, books and albums about Baikal here.

Baikal is a source of inspiration, enlightenment and real feeling of self-identification with nature. We invite you to open up your own Baikal!