Caspian Sea
The Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea could almost be classified as inland seas. They are almost completely surrounded by land. In fact, “Mediterranean Sea” means “sea in the middle of land.” However, rightly or wrongly, they are generally excluded from consideration. It is generally agreed that the Caspian Sea is the largest inland sea. Its surface area is roughly 143,000 square miles. Its exact size has varied over the centuries.
The Caspian Sea has no outlet to any ocean. Since the elevation of the Caspian Sea is below sea level, no waters would flow out of the Caspian, even if it were connected to the Black Sea or to the Mediterranean. On the contrary, more water would flow into the Caspian.
The Caspian Sea is bounded by Iran on the south, Russia toward the north, Azerbaijan to the west, and Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan to the east.
Lake Superior is considerably smaller than the Caspian Sea, but it is larger than any other freshwater lake. Its surface area covers approximately 31,700 square miles.
Lake Superior is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded by the states of Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota plus the Canadian province of Ontario.
The excess waters of Lake Superior flow through the St. Marys River to Lake Huron and eventually reach the Atlantic Ocean via the St. Lawrence Seaway.
Lake Victoria
Lake Victoria is the next largest lake. Its surface area is about 26,830 square miles.
Lake Victoria lies in equatorial Africa. The country of Uganda borders it on the west, while Kenya and Tanzania enjoy its eastern shores. Its waters flow into the Mediterranean Sea by means of the Nile River.
The lake is named after Queen Victoria, who was the English monarch at the time when John Hanning Speke, a British subject, became the first European to look upon its magnificent waters.
Lake Huron
The surface of the earth is constantly changing, and this sometimes affects the relative size of its lakes. At one time, the Aral Sea was the fourth largest inland body of water. However, its waters are shallow, and it has shrunk drastically in size in recent years.
For this reason, Lake Huron now occupies fourth place among the inland waters of the world. Its surface area is about 23,000 square miles.
Like Lake Superior, Lake Huron is one of the Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded by the state of Michigan on the south and the Canadian province of Ontario on the north.
The name of Lake Huron honors the Huron Indians of North America.
Excess waters leave the lake via the St. Clair River. They flow into Lake St. Clair, and from there they proceed to Lake Erie via the Detroit River.
Lake Michigan
Of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is the only one that lies entirely within United States territory. Wisconsin enjoys its western coastline; Michigan lies to the east. Illinois and Indiana share the southern coastline.
The surface area of Lake Michigan is about 22,300 square miles. This makes it the fifth largest inland body of water in the world.
The excess waters of Lake Michigan flow into Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac.
The name of the lake comes from an Indian phrase meaning “big water,” according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources.
Lake Tanganyika
The sixth spot is occupied by another African lake called Lake Tanganyika. Its surface area is about 12,700 square miles. In addition, it is the second deepest lake in the world. It lies in the Great Rift Valley.
The lion’s share of the western coast of Lake Tanganyika belongs to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, while Zambia lies to the southwest and the south of the lake. Burundi occupies the lands to the northeast, while the greater part of the eastern coast belongs to Tanzania.
The excess waters of Lake Tanganyika flow out through the Lukuga River, eventually reaching the Atlantic.
Great Bear Lake
The Great Bear Lake lies within the Northwest Territories of Canada. According to current data, its surface area is 12,270 square miles. If the measurement is correct, it qualifies as the seventh largest inland body of water, just slightly larger than Russia’s Lake Baikal. Some sources say that Great Bear Lake and Lake Baikal are tied for seventh place.
The Arctic Circle runs through Great Bear Lake, so it is frozen much of the year. Its waters exit via the Great Bear River. Eventually the waters reach the Mackenzie River and flow to the Arctic Ocean.
Lake Baikal
Next to the Caspian Sea, Lake Baikal is the largest inland body of water in Asia. Because of its surface area of 12,200 square miles, it qualifies for eighth place on this list. In addition, it is the deepest lake in the world.
Siberia is the home of Lake Baikal. Many rivers flow into Lake Baikal. The Angara River carries some of its waters to the Yenisey River, which further transports them northward to the Kara Sea.
Great Slave Lake
Like the Great Bear Lake, the Great Slave Lake adorns the Northwest Territories of Canada. Its excess waters flow into the Arctic Ocean via the Mackenzie River.
In older lists, Lake Malawi was considered the tenth largest inland body of water, and the Great Slave Lake was number eleven. However, the Aral Sea dropped from contention; and sources vary widely of the surface area of Lake Malawi. Depending on how big Lake Malawi eventually proves to be, the Great Slave Lake is the ninth largest. Its surface area is about 10,030 square miles.
Lake Malawi
Either Lake Malawi or Lake Erie occupies the final slot in the top ten. I tend to think that Lake Malawi merits this spot. Estimates of its size are 11,900 square miles, 8,680 square miles, and 9,461 square miles, according to Wetlands International. My placement of Lake Malawi is based on the last of the three figures.
Lake Malawi lies in the Great Rift Valley in Africa, between the countries of Mozambique, Malawi, and Tanzania. Another name for the lake is Lake Nyasa.
Lake Erie
The surface area of Lake Erie is about 9,910 square miles. It might be the tenth largest if the smallest estimate of the size of Lake Malawi is correct.
Michigan lies to the east of Lake Erie, while Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York occupy its south shore. Its eastern coastline also belongs to New York. To the north is the Canadian province of Ontario. Note that the coastline of all five of the Great Lakes belongs to the large Canadian province of Ontario.
The Niagara River with its famous falls connects Lake Erie with Lake Ontario, and the St. Lawrence River connects Lake Ontario with the Atlantic Ocean.
Lake Winnipeg
According to the Lake Winnipeg Research Consortium website, Lake Winnipeg is the tenth largest lake in the world. They probably arrive at this conclusion by excluding the salty Caspian Sea from consideration and by assuming that the smallest estimate of the size of Lake Malawi is the correct one.
Note: Except as otherwise noted, Encarta Student Aid is the source of the surface area figures.
References
Encyclopedia.com
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O142-largestinlandlakesandseas.html
Wikipedia: Aral Sea
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aral_Sea
Wetlands International: Mozambique
http://ramsar.wetlands.org/Portals/15/MOZAMBIQUE.pdf
Lake Winnipeg Research: Consortium: About the Lake
http://www.lakewinnipegresearch.org/aboutlake.html
Michigan Department of Natural Resources: About Michigan
http://www.dnr.state.mi.us/edu/flash/dnrkids/KidsAbtMi.html
Funk & Wagnalls New Encyclopedia
World Book Encyclopedia
Encarta Student Aid
