10 Largest Lakes In The World - 10 Most Today 10 Largest Lakes In The World 1 Comment This is a list of the world’s largest lakes by area (you can also take a look at the world’s deepest lakes ): 1. Caspian Sea – 371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi). The Caspian Sea is often regarded as the largest lake in the world, but it contains an oceanic basin rather than being entirely over continental crust. This makes it an oceanic lake and differs it from all the other lakes in this list which are continental lakes. The Caspian Sea is also the world’s third deepest lake . It has no outflows and is bounded by Russia, Azerbaijan, Iran, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan The Caspian Sea – the largest lake in the world 2. Lake Superior – 82,414 km2 (31,820 sq mi). Bounded by Canada and the United States, Lake Superior is the largest lake of the five Great Lakes of North America Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Superior 3.

Lake Victoria – 69,485 km2 (26,828 sq mi). The largest lake in Africa. It is bounded by Uganda, Kenya and Tanzania Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Superior 4. Lake Huron – 59,600 km2 (23,000 sq mi). The second largest lake of the Great lakes. Lake Huron also contains Manitoulin Island, the world’s largest lake island Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Huron 5. Lake Michigan – 58,000 km2 (22,000 sq mi). Also one of the five Great Lakes, Lake Michigan is just slightly smaller than Lake Huron. It is also the world’s largest lake entirely within one country – the United States. Chicago and Milwaukee are located on the shore of Lake Michigan Chicago and Lake Michigan 6. Lake Tanganyika – 32,893 km2 (12,700 sq mi).

The lake is not only the 6th largest in the world, it is also the second deepest lake in the world – 1,470 m (4,820 ft) and the longest lake in the world – 676 km (420 mi). Lake Tanganyika is divided among four countries – Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Tanganyika 7. Lake Baikal – 31,500 km2 (12,200 sq mi). The lake is entirely within Russia. It is also the deepest lake in the world and the largest volume fresh water lake in the world Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Baikal 8. Great Bear Lake – 31,080 km2 (12,000 sq mi). The largest lake entirely within Canada and the fourth largest in North America. Great Bear Lake is covered with ice from late November to July, at that time there is an ice crossing (ice road) to Deline which lies on the shore of the lake Largest Lakes In The World: Great Bear Lake 9.

Lake Malawi – 30,044 km2 (11,600 sq mi). The lake is divided between Tanzania, Mozambique and Malawi. The lake is the second deepest lake in Africa and it has more fish species than any other lake on Earth Largest Lakes In The World: Lake Malawi 10. Great Slave Lake – 28,930 km2 (11,170 sq mi). This Canadian lake is also the 8th deepest lake in the world and the deepest lake in North America Largest Lakes In The World: Great Slave Lake Largest Lake in the World - Largest in the United States Largest Lake in the World & Largest Lake in the United States Caspian Sea map: Map of the Caspian Sea - World's largest landlocked water body (by surface area). Image by CIA. Which Lake is the World's Largest? There are a few different ways to define the world's largest lake. Are you interested in the lake with the largest surface area? Or, the lake with the greatest water volume? And, do you want to consider saltwater seas in your comparison? "Which lake is the world's largest?" is not a simple question to answer.

So, we will explore the question from a few different perspectives. World's Largest Lake (by volume): Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake in terms of volume. It contains about 5,521 cubic miles of water (23,013 cubic kilometers), or approximately 20% of Earth's fresh surface water. This is a volume of water approximately equivalent to all five of the North American Great Lakes combined. While Lake Baikal is extremely deep, its surface area is only about 12,248 square miles (31,722 square kilometers), putting it in seventh place worldwide in terms of surface area. Lake Baikal map: Map of Lake Baikal - World's largest freshwater lake (by volume). Image by CIA. World's Largest Lake (by surface area): The salty Caspian Sea has the greatest surface area of any lake at 143,200 square miles (370,886 square kilometers). Lake Superior, on the United States/Canada border, is the named freshwater lake with the greatest surface area at 31,700 square miles (82,103 square kilometers).

However, Lake Michigan and Lake Huron can technically be considered a single lake because they both have the same surface elevation and they are connected by the Mackinac Strait (which is not a river because the water does not have a consistent flow direction). So, Lake Michigan-Huron could be considered the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. It has a total surface area of 45,410 square miles (117,611 square kilometers), which is significantly larger than Lake Superior. The total water volume in Lake Michigan-Huron, at 2,026 cubic miles (8,443 cubic kilometers), is much smaller than the volume of Lake Baikal. Great Lakes map: Map of Lake Superior and Lake Michigan-Huron - World's largest freshwater lakes (by surface area). Image by CIA. Largest Lake in the United States (by volume): The largest lake in the United States on the basis of water volume is Lake Superior with a volume of 2,904 cubic miles (12,104 cubic kilometers).

Largest Lake in the United States (by surface area): Lake Superior is the single named lake with the largest surface area in the United States at 31,700 square miles (82,103 square kilometers). However, as mentioned above, if you consider Lake Michigan and Lake Huron as a single lake, then Lake Michigan-Huron has the largest surface area at 45,410 square miles (117,611 square kilometers). 10 Countries With Largest Forest Area - 10 Most Today 10 Countries With Largest Forest Area 1 Comment The following list contains the 10 countries with the largest forest area in the world, along with the percentage of the total land area of the country: 1. Russia – 7,762,602 km2 (2,997,157 mi2) which are 45.40% of the country’s land area. Russia is not only the largest country in the world, but also the country with the largest forest area. The forest area of Russia alone is the size of the entire continent of Australia! Forests in Siberia, Russia 2.

Brazil – 4,776,980 km2 (1,844,402 mi2) which are 56.10% of the total land area of Brazil. Brazil is the fifth largest country in the world and over than half of it’s size is forested area, large part of which is the amazon area and its rainforest. The forest area of Brazil is larger than India Amazon Rainforests in Brazil 3. Canda – 3,101,340 km2 (1,197,434 mi2) which are 31.06% of Canada’s land. Canada is the second largest country in the world and its forest area is just about the size of India Forests in Quebec, Canada 4. United States – 3,030,890 km2 (1,170,233 mi2) of forest area which make for 30.84% of the US land Redwoods forests, California, United States 5.

China – 1,821,000 km2 (703,092 mi2) which are only 18.21% of the land area of China. China has the smallest precentage of forests on it’s land from all the countries in this top 10 list Forests in Xibin, China 6. Australia – 1,470,832 km2 (567,891 mi2) – 19.00% Adelaide Hills Forest Range, South Australia 7. Congo (D.R) – 1,219,326 km2 (470,784 mi2) which are 52% of the country’s land Raiforests in Congo 8. Argentina – 945,336 km2 (364,996 mi2) – 34% of the land of Argentina is forested area Iguazu waterfalls in Argentina – a big forested area 9.

Indonesia – 884,950 km2 (341,681 mi2) – 46.46% – almost half of Indonesia is a forest Forests in Cibodas, indonesia 10.

India – 778,424 km2 (300,551 mi2) – 23.68% Forests in Karnataka, India United States | history - geography | Britannica.com United States Written By: Alternative Titles: America, U.S., U.S.A., United States of America United States federal republic with two legislative houses (Senate [100]; House of Representatives [4351]) Head of state and government (2010) 308,745,538; (2016 est.) 323,349,0002 Total area (sq mi) Literacy: percentage of population age 15 and over literate Male: (2000–2004) 95.7% GNI per capita (U.S.$) (2014) 55,200 1Excludes 5 nonvoting delegates from the District of Columbia, the U.S. Virgin Islands , American Samoa , the Northern Mariana Islands , and Guam and a nonvoting resident commissioner from Puerto Rico . 2Includes military personnel overseas.

3Total area (excluding 42,334 sq mi [109,645 sq km] of coastal water and 76,804 sq mi [198,921 sq km] of territorial water) equals 3,677,649 sq mi (9,525,067 sq km), of which land area equals 3,531,925 sq mi (9,147,643 sq km), inland water area equals 85,631 sq mi (221,783 sq km), and Great Lakes water area equals 60,093 sq mi (155,641 sq km). list of cities and towns in the United States United States, officially United States of America, abbreviated U.S. or U.S.A., byname America, country in North America , a federal republic of 50 states. Besides the 48 conterminous states that occupy the middle latitudes of the continent, the United States includes the state of Alaska , at the northwestern extreme of North America, and the island state of Hawaii , in the mid-Pacific Ocean .

The conterminous states are bounded on the north by Canada , on the east by the Atlantic Ocean , on the south by the Gulf of Mexico and Mexico , and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The United States is the fourth largest country in the world in area (after Russia , Canada, and China ). The national capital is Washington , which is coextensive with the District of Columbia, the federal capital region created in 1790. United States of America Fishing boat at the harbour at Portsmouth, New Hampshire. Craig Blouin/New England Stock Photo The major characteristic of the United States is probably its great variety. Its physical environment ranges from the Arctic to the subtropical, from the moist rain forest to the arid desert, from the rugged mountain peak to the flat prairie. Although the total population of the United States is large by world standards, its overall population density is relatively low. The country embraces some of the world’s largest urban concentrations as well as some of the most extensive areas that are almost devoid of habitation. The United States. Roger B. Taney The United States contains a highly diverse population.

Unlike a country such as China that largely incorporated indigenous peoples, the United States has a diversity that to a great degree has come from an immense and sustained global immigration. Probably no other country has a wider range of racial, ethnic, and cultural types than does the United States. In addition to the presence of surviving Native Americans (including American Indians, Aleuts , and Eskimos ) and the descendants of Africans taken as slaves to the New World, the national character has been enriched, tested, and constantly redefined by the tens of millions of immigrants who by and large have come to America hoping for greater social, political, and economic opportunities than they had in the places they left. (It should be noted that although the terms “America” and “Americans” are often used as synonyms for the United States and its citizens, respectively, they are also used in a broader sense for North, South, and Central America collectively and their citizens.) USA Facts The United States is the world’s greatest economic power, measured in terms of gross domestic product (GDP). The nation’s wealth is partly a reflection of its rich natural resources and its enormous agricultural output, but it owes more to the country’s highly developed industry.

Despite its relative economic self-sufficiency in many areas, the United States is the most important single factor in world trade by virtue of the sheer size of its economy. Its exports and imports represent major proportions of the world total. The United States also impinges on the global economy as a source of and as a destination for investment capital. The country continues to sustain an economic life that is more diversified than any other on Earth, providing the majority of its people with one of the world’s highest standards of living. Related Places Kansas City The United States is relatively young by world standards, being less than 250 years old; it achieved its current size only in the mid-20th century. America was the first of the European colonies to separate successfully from its motherland, and it was the first nation to be established on the premise that sovereignty rests with its citizens and not with the government. In its first century and a half, the country was mainly preoccupied with its own territorial expansion and economic growth and with social debates that ultimately led to civil war and a healing period that is still not complete. In the 20th century the United States emerged as a world power, and since World War II it has been one of the preeminent powers.

It has not accepted this mantle easily nor always carried it willingly; the principles and ideals of its founders have been tested by the pressures and exigencies of its dominant status. The United States still offers its residents opportunities for unparalleled personal advancement and wealth. However, the depletion of its resources, the contamination of its environment, and the continuing social and economic inequality that perpetuates areas of poverty and blight all threaten the fabric of the country. The District of Columbia is discussed in the article Washington . For discussion of other major U.S. cities, see the articles Boston , Chicago , Los Angeles , New Orleans , New York City , Philadelphia , and San Francisco . Political units in association with the United States include Puerto Rico, discussed in the article Puerto Rico , and several Pacific islands, discussed in Guam , Northern Mariana Islands , and American Samoa . Land The two great sets of elements that mold the physical environment of the United States are, first, the geologic, which determines the main patterns of landforms, drainage, and mineral resources and influences soils to a lesser degree, and, second, the atmospheric, which dictates not only climate and weather but also in large part the distribution of soils, plants, and animals.

Although these elements are not entirely independent of one another, each produces on a map patterns that are so profoundly different that essentially they remain two separate geographies. (Since this article covers only the conterminous United States, see also the articles Alaska and Hawaii .) United States of America The Colorado River in Marble Canyon at the northeastern end of Grand Canyon National Park, … © Gary Ladd Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest The centre of the conterminous United States is a great sprawling interior lowland, reaching from the ancient shield of central Canada on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. To east and west this lowland rises, first gradually and then abruptly, to mountain ranges that divide it from the sea on both sides. The two mountain systems differ drastically. The Appalachian Mountains on the east are low, almost unbroken, and in the main set well back from the Atlantic . From New York to the Mexican border stretches the low Coastal Plain , which faces the ocean along a swampy, convoluted coast. The gently sloping surface of the plain extends out beneath the sea, where it forms the continental shelf, which, although submerged beneath shallow ocean water, is geologically identical to the Coastal Plain.

Southward the plain grows wider, swinging westward in Georgia and Alabama to truncate the Appalachians along their southern extremity and separate the interior lowland from the Gulf. West of the Central Lowland is the mighty Cordillera, part of a global mountain system that rings the Pacific basin. The Cordillera encompasses fully one-third of the United States, with an internal variety commensurate with its size. At its eastern margin lie the Rocky Mountains, a high, diverse, and discontinuous chain that stretches all the way from New Mexico to the Canadian border. The Cordillera’s western edge is a Pacific coastal chain of rugged mountains and inland valleys, the whole rising spectacularly from the sea without benefit of a coastal plain. Pent between the Rockies and the Pacific chain is a vast intermontane complex of basins, plateaus, and isolated ranges so large and remarkable that they merit recognition as a region separate from the Cordillera itself. Related Topics These regions—the Interior Lowlands and their upland fringes, the Appalachian Mountain system, the Atlantic Plain, the Western Cordillera, and the Western Intermontane Region—are so various that they require further division into 24 major subregions, or provinces.

The Interior Lowlands and their upland fringes Andrew Jackson is supposed to have remarked that the United States begins at the Alleghenies , implying that only west of the mountains, in the isolation and freedom of the great Interior Lowlands, could people finally escape Old World influences. Whether or not the lowlands constitute the country’s cultural core is debatable, but there can be no doubt that they comprise its geologic core and in many ways its geographic core as well. Learn about the different physcial landscapes that make up the American Midwest. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. This enormous region rests upon an ancient, much-eroded platform of complex crystalline rocks that have for the most part lain undisturbed by major orogenic (mountain-building) activity for more than 600,000,000 years. Over much of central Canada, these Precambrian rocks are exposed at the surface and form the continent’s single largest topographical region, the formidable and ice-scoured Canadian Shield . In the United States most of the crystalline platform is concealed under a deep blanket of sedimentary rocks.

In the far north, however, the naked Canadian Shield extends into the United States far enough to form two small but distinctive landform regions: the rugged and occasionally spectacular Adirondack Mountains of northern New York and the more-subdued and austere Superior Upland of northern Minnesota , Wisconsin , and Michigan . As in the rest of the shield, glaciers have stripped soils away, strewn the surface with boulders and other debris, and obliterated preglacial drainage systems. Most attempts at farming in these areas have been abandoned, but the combination of a comparative wilderness in a northern climate, clear lakes, and white-water streams has fostered the development of both regions as year-round outdoor recreation areas. Mineral wealth in the Superior Upland is legendary. Iron lies near the surface and close to the deepwater ports of the upper Great Lakes . Iron is mined both north and south of Lake Superior , but best known are the colossal deposits of Minnesota’s Mesabi Range , for more than a century one of the world’s richest and a vital element in America’s rise to industrial power. In spite of depletion, the Minnesota and Michigan mines still yield a major proportion of the country’s iron and a significant percentage of the world’s supply.

South of the Adirondack Mountains and the Superior Upland lies the boundary between crystalline and sedimentary rocks; abruptly, everything is different. The core of this sedimentary region—the heartland of the United States—is the great Central Lowland, which stretches for 1,500 miles (2,400 kilometres) from New York to central Texas and north another 1,000 miles to the Canadian province of Saskatchewan . To some, the landscape may seem dull, for heights of more than 2,000 feet (600 metres) are unusual, and truly rough terrain is almost lacking. Landscapes are varied, however, largely as the result of glaciation that directly or indirectly affected most of the subregion. North of the Missouri – Ohio river line, the advance and readvance of continental ice left an intricate mosaic of boulders, sand, gravel, silt, and clay and a complex pattern of lakes and drainage channels, some abandoned, some still in use. The southern part of the Central Lowland is quite different, covered mostly with loess (wind-deposited silt) that further subdued the already low relief surface.

Elsewhere, especially near major rivers, postglacial streams carved the loess into rounded hills, and visitors have aptly compared their billowing shapes to the waves of the sea. Above all, the loess produces soil of extraordinary fertility . As the Mesabi iron was a major source of America’s industrial wealth, its agricultural prosperity has been rooted in Midwestern loess. The Central Lowland resembles a vast saucer, rising gradually to higher lands on all sides. Southward and eastward, the land rises gradually to three major plateaus. Beyond the reach of glaciation to the south, the sedimentary rocks have been raised into two broad upwarps, separated from one another by the great valley of the Mississippi River . The Ozark Plateau lies west of the river and occupies most of southern Missouri and northern Arkansas ; on the east the Interior Low Plateaus dominate central Kentucky and Tennessee . Except for two nearly circular patches of rich limestone country—the Nashville Basin of Tennessee and the Kentucky Bluegrass region —most of both plateau regions consists of sandstone uplands, intricately dissected by streams. Local relief runs to several hundreds of feet in most places, and visitors to the region must travel winding roads along narrow stream valleys.

The soils there are poor, and mineral resources are scanty. Eastward from the Central Lowland the Appalachian Plateau —a narrow band of dissected uplands that strongly resembles the Ozark Plateau and Interior Low Plateaus in steep slopes, wretched soils, and endemic poverty—forms a transition between the interior plains and the Appalachian Mountains. Usually, however, the Appalachian Plateau is considered a subregion of the Appalachian Mountains, partly on grounds of location, partly because of geologic structure. Unlike the other plateaus, where rocks are warped upward, the rocks there form an elongated basin, wherein bituminous coal has been preserved from erosion. This Appalachian coal, like the Mesabi iron that it complements in U.S. industry, is extraordinary. Extensive, thick, and close to the surface, it has stoked the furnaces of northeastern steel mills for decades and helps explain the huge concentration of heavy industry along the lower Great Lakes. The western flanks of the Interior Lowlands are the Great Plains , a territory of awesome bulk that spans the full distance between Canada and Mexico in a swath nearly 500 miles (800 km) wide.

The Great Plains were built by successive layers of poorly cemented sand, silt, and gravel—debris laid down by parallel east-flowing streams from the Rocky Mountains . Seen from the east, the surface of the Great Plains rises inexorably from about 2,000 feet (600 metres) near Omaha , Nebraska , to more than 6,000 feet (1,825 metres) at Cheyenne , Wyoming, but the climb is so gradual that popular legend holds the Great Plains to be flat. True flatness is rare, although the High Plains of western Texas , Oklahoma , Kansas , and eastern Colorado come close. More commonly, the land is broadly rolling, and parts of the northern plains are sharply dissected into badlands. The High Plains, near Fort Morgan, Colorado. Epimethius The main mineral wealth of the Interior Lowlands derives from fossil fuels. Coal occurs in structural basins protected from erosion—high-quality bituminous in the Appalachian, Illinois , and western Kentucky basins; and subbituminous and lignite in the eastern and northwestern Great Plains.

Petroleum and natural gas have been found in nearly every state between the Appalachians and the Rockies, but the Midcontinent Fields of western Texas and the Texas Panhandle, Oklahoma, and Kansas surpass all others. Aside from small deposits of lead and zinc, metallic minerals are of little importance. The Appalachian Mountain system The Appalachians dominate the eastern United States and separate the Eastern Seaboard from the interior with a belt of subdued uplands that extends nearly 1,500 miles (2,400 km) from northeastern Alabama to the Canadian border. They are old, complex mountains, the eroded stumps of much greater ranges. Present topography results from erosion that has carved weak rocks away, leaving a skeleton of resistant rocks behind as highlands. Geologic differences are thus faithfully reflected in topography. In the Appalachians these differences are sharply demarcated and neatly arranged, so that all the major subdivisions except New England lie in strips parallel to the Atlantic and to one another. Screw Auger Falls in the Mahoosuc Range, northern Appalachian Mountains, Maine. © George Wuerthner The core of the Appalachians is a belt of complex metamorphic and igneous rocks that stretches all the way from Alabama to New Hampshire .

The western side of this belt forms the long slender rampart of the Blue Ridge Mountains, containing the highest elevations in the Appalachians ( Mount Mitchell , North Carolina, 6,684 feet [2,037 metres]) and some of its most handsome mountain scenery. On its eastern, or seaward, side the Blue Ridge descends in an abrupt and sometimes spectacular escarpment to the Piedmont , a well-drained, rolling land—never quite hills, but never quite a plain. Before the settlement of the Midwest the Piedmont was the most productive agricultural region in the United States, and several Pennsylvania counties still consistently report some of the highest farm yields per acre in the entire country. West of the crystalline zone, away from the axis of primary geologic deformation, sedimentary rocks have escaped metamorphism but are compressed into tight folds. Erosion has carved the upturned edges of these folded rocks into the remarkable Ridge and Valley country of the western Appalachians. Long linear ridges characteristically stand about 1,000 feet (300 metres) from base to crest and run for tens of miles, paralleled by broad open valleys of comparable length.

In Pennsylvania, ridges run unbroken for great distances, occasionally turning abruptly in a zigzag pattern; by contrast, the southern ridges are broken by faults and form short, parallel segments that are lined up like magnetized iron filings. By far the largest valley—and one of the most important routes in North America—is the Great Valley , an extraordinary trench of shale and limestone that runs nearly the entire length of the Appalachians. It provides a lowland passage from the middle Hudson valley to Harrisburg , Pennsylvania, and on southward, where it forms the Shenandoah and Cumberland valleys, and has been one of the main paths through the Appalachians since pioneer times. In New England it is floored with slates and marbles and forms the Valley of Vermont, one of the few fertile areas in an otherwise mountainous region. Ridge-and-valley topography in the Appalachian Highlands, near Bristol, Tennessee, U.S. Bantosh Topography much like that of the Ridge and Valley is found in the Ouachita Mountains of western Arkansas and eastern Oklahoma, an area generally thought to be a detached continuation of Appalachian geologic structure, the intervening section buried beneath the sediments of the lower Mississippi valley.

The once-glaciated New England section of the Appalachians is divided from the rest of the chain by an indentation of the Atlantic. Although almost completely underlain by crystalline rocks, New England is laid out in north–south bands, reminiscent of the southern Appalachians. The rolling, rocky hills of southeastern New England are not dissimilar to the Piedmont, while, farther northwest, the rugged and lofty White Mountains are a New England analogue to the Blue Ridge. ( Mount Washington , New Hampshire, at 6,288 feet [1,917 metres], is the highest peak in the northeastern United States.) The westernmost ranges—the Taconics , Berkshires , and Green Mountains —show a strong north–south lineation like the Ridge and Valley. Unlike the rest of the Appalachians, however, glaciation has scoured the crystalline rocks much like those of the Canadian Shield, so that New England is best known for its picturesque landscape, not for its fertile soil. Mount Washington, in the White Mountains, New Hampshire. William Hemmel/© New Hampshire Division of Travel and Tourism Development Typical of diverse geologic regions, the Appalachians contain a great variety of minerals.

Only a few occur in quantities large enough for sustained exploitation, notably iron in Pennsylvania’s Blue Ridge and Piedmont and the famous granites, marbles, and slates of northern New England. In Pennsylvania the Ridge and Valley region contains one of the world’s largest deposits of anthracite coal, once the basis of a thriving mining economy; many of the mines are now shut, oil and gas having replaced coal as the major fuel used to heat homes. The Atlantic Plain The eastern and southeastern fringes of the United States are part of the outermost margins of the continental platform, repeatedly invaded by the sea and veneered with layer after layer of young, poorly consolidated sediments. Part of this platform now lies slightly above sea level and forms a nearly flat and often swampy coastal plain, which stretches from Cape Cod , Massachusetts , to beyond the Mexican border. Most of the platform, however, is still submerged, so that a band of shallow water, the continental shelf, parallels the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, in some places reaching 250 miles (400 km) out to sea. Discover the climate, landscape, and waterways of the northeastern United States. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

The Atlantic Plain slopes so gently that even slight crustal upwarping can shift the coastline far out to sea at the expense of the continental shelf. The peninsula of Florida is just such an upwarp: nowhere in its 400-mile (640-km) length does the land rise more than 350 feet (100 metres) above sea level; much of the southern and coastal areas rise less than 10 feet (3 metres) and are poorly drained and dangerously exposed to Atlantic storms. Downwarps can result in extensive flooding. North of New York City, for example, the weight of glacial ice depressed most of the Coastal Plain beneath the sea, and the Atlantic now beats directly against New England’s rock-ribbed coasts. Cape Cod , Long Island (New York), and a few offshore islands are all that remain of New England’s drowned Coastal Plain. Another downwarp lies perpendicular to the Gulf coast and guides the course of the lower Mississippi. The river, however, has filled with alluvium what otherwise would be an arm of the Gulf, forming a great inland salient of the Coastal Plain called the Mississippi Embayment.

South of New York the Coastal Plain gradually widens, but ocean water has invaded the lower valleys of most of the coastal rivers and has turned them into estuaries. The greatest of these is Chesapeake Bay , merely the flooded lower valley of the Susquehanna River and its tributaries, but there are hundreds of others. Offshore a line of sandbars and barrier beaches stretches intermittently the length of the Coastal Plain, hampering entry of shipping into the estuaries but providing the eastern United States with a playground that is more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) long. Learn about the landforms and climate of the southeastern United States. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Poor soils are the rule on the Coastal Plain, though rare exceptions have formed some of America’s most famous agricultural regions—for example, the citrus country of central Florida’s limestone uplands and the Cotton Belt of the Old South, once centred on the alluvial plain of the Mississippi and belts of chalky black soils of eastern Texas, Alabama, and Mississippi . The Atlantic Plain’s greatest natural wealth derives from petroleum and natural gas trapped in domal structures that dot the Gulf Coast of eastern Texas and Louisiana .

Onshore and offshore drilling have revealed colossal reserves of oil and natural gas. Page 1 of 41 Largest Lakes - Water Volume Lakes & Reservoirs - Lakelubbers Largest Lakes - Water Volume Lakes & Reservoirs Search and Sort Lakes Show only guest editable lakes Search Results Here are the 1162 lakes we have listed - compared by Largest Lakes - Water Volume. Note: For some lakes, "Largest Lakes - Water Volume" is unknown or does not apply, so this comparison may show fewer lakes than you originally selected. Suggest a new lake . Page 1 of 47. (Azerbaijan / Iran / Kazakhstan / Northern Caucases, Russia / Povolzhsky, Russia / Turkmenistan) 62,424,915,900 Also known as: Mazandaran Sea, Khazar Sea, Khvalyn Sea With the largest volume of any saltwater "lake" on earth, the Caspian Sea holds well over 62 billion acre-feet of saltwater. Many classify the Caspian Sea not as a lake, but as an inland sea.

(There is no widely accepted definition of "lake," but most exclude bodies of saltwater.) Considered by many ... (Eastern Siberia, Russia) 19,261,440,000 Also known as: Lake Baykal, Sacred Sea, Pearl of Siberia, Blue Eye of Siberia, Galapagos of Russia Russia's national treasure, Lake Baikal, is the world's deepest lake and is our planet's largest freshwater lake measured by water volume. Its bottom is 4,215 feet below sea level. Lake Baikal contains about 1/5 of Earth's unfrozen surface freshwater. It is also one of the most biologically diverse ... (African Great Lakes / Burundi / Congo (DRC) / Kigoma, Tanzania / Rukwa, Tanzania / Zambia) 14,430,694,800 Located in the Western Great Rift Valley of Africa, the crystal clear water of Lake Tanganyika reaches across four countries - Burundi, Zambia, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania. Stretching 420 miles, this lake is the longest freshwater lake in the world and has a maximum width of 31 miles ...

(Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Michigan, USA / Minnesota, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 9,799,680,000 Skipping over state and country borders, Lake Superior, the largest, deepest, coldest, cleanest, least developed, and most pristine of the Great Lakes, reigns as the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. By volume, this 31,820 square mile colossus ranks fourth - a whopping 2,900 cubic ... (Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Illinois, USA / Indiana, USA / Michigan, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 6,858,776,000 Lake Michigan and Lake Huron - two of North America's Great Lakes - are contiguous and they share the same elevation of 577 feet above sea level. They are connected by the five-mile-wide Straits of Mackinac. Hydrologically, this makes these "two lakes" a single lake. Some hydrologists designate the ...

(African Great Lakes / Malawi / Mozambique / Iringa, Tanzania / Mbeya, Tanzania / Ruvuma, Tanzania) 6,809,990,827 Also known as: Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, Lago Niassa Located in the East African Rift Valley system between Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania, Lake Malawi -- also known as Lake Nyasa, Lake Nyassa, Lake Niassa, and Lago Niassa -- is the third-largest lake in Africa at over 7,314,319 acres. It also has the distinction of being the second deepest lake in Africa ... (Great Lakes / Illinois, USA / Indiana, USA / Michigan, USA / Wisconsin, USA) 3,987,456,000 As the only Great Lake nestled completely within the boundaries of the United States, Lake Michigan is the pride and joy of Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Michigan. The lake boasts a huge area of 22,400 square miles, making it the largest freshwater lake (by surface area) in the world to be contained ...

(Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / Michigan, USA) 2,872,320,000 A glacial lake of epic proportions, Lake Huron is the second largest of the five Great Lakes by surface area, boasting 23,010 square miles and an incredible 3,825-mile shoreline. The massive lake is the third largest of the Great Lakes by water volume, containing 850 cubic miles of fresh water within ... (African Great Lakes / Nyanza, Kenya / Western, Kenya / Kagera, Tanzania / Mara, Tanzania / Mwanza, Tanzania / Uganda) 2,229,461,280 Also known as: Victoria Nyanza, Victoria Ukerewe, Victoria Nalubaale Lake Victoria -- also known as Victoria Nyanza, Ukerewe, and Nalubaale -- rakes in the superlatives: it is the largest lake on the African continent by surface area, the largest tropical lake in the world, and the second largest freshwater lake in the world by surface area. Joined by five others, Lake ...

(Northwest Territories, Canada) 1,812,754,700 Great Bear Lake is located in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is a natural lake, encircled by wilderness, and the largest lake completely in Canada. Great Bear Lake is on the Arctic Circle and ice-covered eight months out of the year. With an area of over 7 million acres and more than 26 islands, ... 1,409,025,024 Also known as: Ysyk Kol, Issyk-Kol Little-known Lake Issyk Kul in Kyrgyzstan is poised to become Central Asia's most famous tourism destination. Popular among citizens of the former USSR, the new and refurbished resorts and health spas of Issyk Kul are now open for business and beckon all those with an adventurous spirit to the second-largest ... (Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / New York, USA) 1,328,025,600 Lake Ontario, one of the world's five Great Lakes, weaves over state and country borders, delighting Americans, Canadians, and visiting tourists with its deep, clear, clean waters.

Proudly home to a staggering 4,700,000 acres (7,340 square miles), Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes, the ... (Northwest Territories, Canada) 1,284,095,982 Great Slave Lake is the fifth-largest lake (by acreage) in North America and, following Great Bear Lake, is the second-largest in Canada. A natural lake, it is located in south-central Northwest Territories (NWT). Located just south of the Arctic Circle, Great Slave Lake is frozen about five and a half ... 736,127,580 Also known as: Lake Laatokka, Ladozhskoye Ozero Located 25 miles north of St. Petersburg, Russia's Lake Ladoga is the largest freshwater body in Europe with a surface area of 4,481,238 acres. The amazing lake stretches for 136 miles across northwestern Russia and has an average width of 51 miles. There are 660 islands in the lake and over 32 rivers ...

(Bolivia / Peru) 723,148,586 Located on the border of Peru and Bolivia is the largest freshwater lake by volume in South America, Lake Titicaca. With an elevation of 12,507 feet, this million year old lake is also one the world's highest commercially navigable lakes. All along the shores are native villages where traces of their ... (Ireland / Northern Ireland, United Kingdom) 609,656,322 Also known as: Loch Feabhail Standing on the stoop of his holiday cottage looking out over the water of Lough Foyle, he was struck by how closely the 44,000 acre estuary matched his expectations. With its rocky shore set against the backdrop of County Donegal's cliffs and mountains, Lough Foyle (Irish name-Loch Feabhail) is exactly ... 492,102,909 Also known as: Van Goiu Turkey's Lake Van is a spectacular example of a very old lake surrounded by a very old culture.

Located in the far eastern area of Turkey called Anatolia near the border with Iraq, Iran and Armenia, this ancient portion of the Silk Road has been conquered and re-conquered so many times that it's difficult ... (African Great Lakes / Congo (DRC) / Rwanda) 445,892,257 Also known as: Lac Kivu Lake Kivu is one of the youngest of the African Great Lakes. Located in the Rift Valley, Lake Kivu is thought to be only 15,000 years old. Forming part of the border between Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the lake formed during the Pleistocene Era when volcanic events in the Virunga ... (Ontario, Canada / Great Lakes / New York, USA / Pennsylvania, USA / Michigan, USA / Ohio, USA) 391,987,200 Lake Erie, one of the Great Lakes of North America, straddles the borders of Ohio, Pennsylvania, New York, Michigan, and the Canadian province of Ontario. The lake is named after the Native American tribe that inhabited its shores before being killed off by the Iroquois League for aiding their enemy, ...

(Alberta, Canada) 354,221,666 Surrounded by Alberta's wide-open spaces and endless Canadian skies, Gull Lake is located in Alberta's Central tourism region. Well situated between Edmonton and Calgary in south-central Alberta, Gull Lake attracts a growing number of seasonal residents. Gull Lake's 19,917-acre surface area lies across ... 250,267,163 Also known as: Lake Hovsgol Often referred to as "The Dark Blue Pearl", Lake Khovsgol is Mongolia's largest and deepest lake. Located in the northernmost province and surrounded by wooded mountains, Lake Khuvsgul is 84 miles long, 22 wide, 860 feet deep and sits at an altitude of 5,397 feet above sea level. It is frozen from January ... (Manitoba, Canada) 228,833,000 Lake Winnipeg is a long (271 miles) somewhat shallow outdoor enthusiast's dream. It's located some 35 miles north of Winnipeg, Manitoba and is a natural favorite for Canadian residents as well as visitors.

Lake Winnipeg's beautiful beaches, provincial parks and uncluttered waters afford a wealth of ...

Question: Which country contains the most large lakes in the world?
Answer: Canada