Lake Baikal:
Seven bodies have been recently recovered from Lake Baikal in Siberia after a tour bus carrying eight Chinese tourists broke through the ice and plunged into the water.
- It is located in the southern part of eastern Siberia, south-central Russia, near the border with Mongolia.
- It is the oldest existing freshwater lake on Earth.
- It is also the world’s largest freshwater lake.
- It is also the world’s deepest lake.
- Barguzini, Selenga, Upper Angara, Sarma, and Turka are the major rivers that drain into the lake.
- However, the lake has only one outlet, the Angara River.
- It is also home to the Buryat people, who follow the Tibetan Buddhist religion and reside on the eastern side of the lake, rearing goats, camels, cattle, and sheep.
- The lake was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1996.
- Known as the ‘Galapagos of Russia’, its age and isolation have produced one of the world’s richest and most unusual freshwater faunas.
