Lake Baikal
Situated in south-east Siberia, the 3.15-million-ha
Lake Baikal is the oldest (25 million years) and deepest (1,700 m) lake
in the world. It contains 20% of the world's total unfrozen freshwater
reserve. Known as the 'Galapagos of Russia', its age and isolation have
produced one of the world's richest and most unusual freshwater faunas,
which is of exceptional value to evolutionary science.