Lake Baikal: References & Edit History
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Additional Reading
Peter Matthiessen and Boyd Norton, Baikal: Sacred Sea of Siberia (1992); Don Belt, “Russia’s Lake Baikal: The World’s Great Lake,” National Geographic, 181(6):2–37 (June 1992); O.M. Kozhova and L.R. Izmesteva (eds.), Lake Baikal: Evolution and Biodiversity, rev. ed. (1998; originally published as Mikhail Kozhov, Lake Baikal and Its Life, 1963); and Arthur D. Pedersen and Susan E. Oliver, The Lake Baikal Guidebook (1996).
Researcher's Note
Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world, but its maximum depth has not been fully established. Among the sources reporting a depth of 5,315 feet (1,620 metres) are the Great Soviet Encyclopedia (Bolshaya Sovetskaya Entsiklopediya), 3rd edition (Moscow, 1970–78); the International Academy of Information Science, Novaya Rossiya (“New Russia”; Moscow, 1994); and the Russian National Tourist Office, “Baikal–The Pearl of Siberia” <http://www.russia-travel.com/baikal01.htm> (accessed Jan. 20, 1999).
A depth of 5,370 feet (1,637 metres) is reported by the World Conservation Monitoring Centre, “Descriptions of Natural World Heritage Properties: Lake Baikal Basin” <http://www.wcmc.org.uk:80/protected_areas/data/wh/baikal.htm> (accessed Jan. 20, 1999) and the Tahoe Baikal Institute, “Facts About Tahoe and Baikal” <http://tahoe.ceres.ca.gov/tbi/facts.html> (accessed Jan. 20, 1999).
According to the Columbia Lippincott Gazetteer of the World (Columbia University Press, 1961) and a table in Peter H. Gleick (ed.), Water In Crisis (1993), the deepest point is 5,712 feet (1,741 metres). Sources noting 5,715 feet (1,742 metres) include Leslie Symons (ed.), The Soviet Union: A Systematic Geography, 2nd edition (1990); Merriam-Webster’s New Geographical Dictionary (1972, 1984); and Merriam-Webster’s Geographical Dictionary, 3rd edition (1997).
Article Contributors
Primary Contributors
- Grigory Ivanovich Galazy
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The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
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Article History
| Type | Description | Contributor | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| Modified link of Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Sixty years of environmental change in the world's largest freshwater lake Lake Baikal, Siberia. | Sep 18, 2026 | ||
| Add new Web site: National Center for Biotechnology Information - PubMed Central - Sixty years of environmental change in the world's largest freshwater lake Lake Baikal, Siberia. | Jul 31, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: World Lake Database - Lake Baikal. | Apr 25, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: Africa Museum - History and Geodunamics of the Lake Baikal Rift in the context of the eastern siberia rift system : A review (PDF). | Mar 17, 2025 | ||
| Media added. | Jan 14, 2025 | ||
| Add new Web site: IOPscience - IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science - Some aspects of the legal protection of Lake Baikal at the present stage (PDF). | Dec 18, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: E3S Web of Conferences - Around Baikal: on the causes of ecological problems. | Oct 30, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: EPJ Web of Conferences - Environmental studies in Lake Baikal: basic facts and perspectives for interdisciplinary research. | Sep 18, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: University of Minnesota Duluth - Swenson College of Science and Engineering - Climate Change and the World�s �Sacred Sea��Lake Baikal, Siberia. | Jan 05, 2024 | ||
| Add new Web site: PNAS - Changing nutrient cycling in Lake Baikal, the world�s oldest lake. | Nov 08, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Geology.com - Deepest Lake in the World. | Jun 19, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Geohistory Today - Environmental Policy and Politics of Lake Baikal: A review of physical, psychological, and political contexts. | Apr 27, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: LiveScience - Lake Baikal: World's Largest, Deepest Lake. | Jan 06, 2023 | ||
| Add new Web site: Geology.com - Deepest Lake in the World. | Jun 07, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: World Heritage Datasheet - Lake Baikal. | Feb 12, 2018 | ||
| Add new Web site: World Heritage Datasheet - Lake Baikal. | Feb 12, 2018 | ||
| Corrected display issue. | Jan 25, 2018 | ||
| Media added. | Aug 25, 2017 | ||
| Add new Web site: Geology.com - Deepest Lake in the World. | Sep 13, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: World Wide Fund For Nature - Lake Baikal, Russia. | Sep 13, 2016 | ||
| Add new Web site: LakePedia - Lake Baikal: The Pearl of Serbia. | Sep 13, 2016 | ||
| Added videos. | May 26, 2015 | ||
| Add new Web site: Lonely Planet - Lake Baikal, Russia. | Mar 06, 2013 | ||
| Added new Web site: UNESCO World Heritage Convention - Lake Baikal, Siberia. | May 06, 2009 | ||
| Added new Web site: Baikal Guidebook - Baikal. | Jan 10, 2008 | ||
| Media added. | Oct 10, 2007 | ||
| Article revised. | Nov 21, 2001 | ||
| Article revised. | Jan 12, 2000 | ||
| Article added to new online database. | Jul 20, 1998 |