Lake Baikal is a rift lake in Russia. It is situated in southern Siberia, between the federal subjects of Irkutsk Oblast to the northwest and the Republic of Buryatia to the southeast. With 23,615.39 km3 (5,670 cu mi) of water, Lake Baikal is the world's largest freshwater lake by volume, containing 22–23% of the world's fresh surface water, more than all of the North American Great Lakes combined. It is also the world's deepest lake, with a maximum depth of 1,642 metres, and the world's oldest lake, at 25–30 million years. At 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi)—slightly larger than Belgium—Lake Baikal is the world's seventh-largest lake by surface area. It is among the world's clearest lakes.
The Buryats are a Mongolic ethnic group native to southeastern Siberia who speak the Buryat language. They are one of the two largest indigenous groups in Siberia, the other being the Yakuts. The majority of the Buryats today live in their titular homeland, the Republic of Buryatia, a federal subject of Russia which sprawls along the southern coast and partially straddles the Lake Baikal. Smaller groups of Buryats also inhabit Ust-Orda Buryat Okrug and the Agin-Buryat Okrug which are to the west and east of Buryatia respectively as well as northeastern Mongolia and Inner Mongolia, China. They traditionally formed the major northern subgroup of the Mongols.
Buryatia, officially the Republic of Buryatia, is a republic of Russia located in the Russian Far East. Formerly part of the Siberian Federal District, it has been administered as part of the Far Eastern Federal District since 2018. Its capital is the city of Ulan-Ude. It has an area of 351,300 square kilometers (135,600 sq mi) with a population of 978,588. It is home to the indigenous Buryats, who are the republic's titular nation.
Seliger is a lake in Ostashkovsky District of Tver Oblast and, in the extreme northern part, in Demyansky District of Novgorod Oblast of Russia, in the northwest of the Valdai Hills, a part of the Volga basin. It has the absolute height of 205 metres (673 ft), the area of 212 square kilometres (82 sq mi), and the average depth of 5.8 metres (19 ft).
Olkhon is the third-largest lake island in the world. It is by far the largest island in Lake Baikal in eastern Siberia, with an area of 730 km2 (280 sq mi). Structurally, it constitutes the southwestern margin of the Academician Ridge. The island measures 71.5 km (44.4 mi) in length and 20.8 km (12.9 mi) in width.
Ignatievka Cave is a large limestone cave on the banks of the Sim River, a tributary of the Belaya river in the southern Ural Mountains of Russia. In 1980 a parietal wall painting of a female figure was discovered. The twenty-eight red dots between her legs are believed to represent the female menstrual cycle.
Maloe More is a strait in Lake Baikal, Russia. It separates the largest island of the lake, Olkhon Island, from the western shore of Baikal. The length of the strait is about 70 km and width 5 – 16 km. The maximum depth is 210 m in the northern part where the strait opens to the open Baikal. In the south, Maloe More strait is connected through the narrow Olkhon Gate strait to the central part of the lake. The Tryokhgolovy Golets, highest peak of the Primorsky Range, rises on the continental side of the strait.
Kurbat Afanasyevich Ivanov (Russian: Курбат Афанасьевич Иванов, was a Cossack explorer of Siberia. He was the first Russian to discover Lake Baikal, and to create the first map of the Russian Far East. He also is credited with creation of the early map of Chukotka and Bering Strait, which was the first to show the yet undiscovered Wrangel Island, both Diomede Islands and Alaska.
Olkhon Gate is a strait of Lake Baikal, Russia. It separates the south-west of Olkhon Island from the western shore of Baikal. In the north the strait opens out into the Maloe More strait, and to the south into the central open Baikal. Its length is about 8.3 km, width is 1.2 - 2.3 km. Average depth is 30 - 40 m, at the south of the strait the depth reaches 100 m. There is a rather strong current in the strait, and the waves can reach 5 m in height.
Kapova cave is a limestone karst cave in the Burzyansky District of Bashkortostan, Russia, ca. 200 km (120 mi) south-east of Ufa, in the southern Ural mountains. Located on the Belaya River in the natural reserve Shulgan-Tash, the cave is best known for the 16,000 years old Upper Paleolithic rock paintings and drawings. It contains the northernmost known ancient paintings.
Uzury is a village in the Olkhonsky District of Irkutsk region of Russia, a part of the Khuzhirskiy municipal unit. Located in the Bay Haga-Yaman of Lake Baikal at the Eastern shore of Olkhon Island in 30 km northeast from the municipal unit centre — village Khuzhir.
Pribaikalsky National Park covers the southwest coast of Lake Baikal in southeastern Siberia. The coastal strip includes the lake-facing slopes of the Primorsky Range to the west, as well as offshore islands such as Olkhon Island to the east. It is about 50 km southeast of the city of Irkutsk, Irkutsk Oblast. The park is managed with three other nature reserves, and is a major component of the UNESCO World Heritage Site "Lake Baikal". The Angara River, which is the outflow of Lake Baikal west into the Yenisei River basin, runs through the park. The park has very high levels of biodiversity and endemic species.
Zaybaykalsky National Park covers the middle section of the eastern shore of Lake Baikal, the west slope of the Barguzin mountains to the east, the Ushkany Islands, and the only large peninsula on the lake, Svyatoy Nos. Of the 2,690 km2 (1,040 sq mi) of the park, 38.8 km2 are protected water areas of the lake itself.
Baikalia is a vague geographical term referring to the region around Lake Baikal. It is less common than the concept of Transbaikalia, the area to the east of Lake Baikal. The term Baikalia is loosely defined and has no official definition.
The Salavat Yulayev Cave, also known as the Cave of Salavat Yulayev or Salavat Cave is a cave located in the Ishimbaysky District, Republic of Bashkortostan, Russia, and is seven kilometers from the village of Makarovo. The cave forms part of the Kalim-Uscan rock, which is located under the Sikasya river; it is composed of three distinct levels and is around 35 meters long. The cave was named after the film Salavat Yulaev as filming was done there, despite a local belief that it was the cave where Bashkir hero Salavat Yulaev hid.
A serge is a hitching post, property marker, and ritual pole used among the Buryats and Yakuts.
The Primorsky Range is a range of mountains in Southern Siberia, part of the South Siberian Mountains. Administratively the range belongs to the Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. The settlement of Buguldeyka, Olkhonsky District, is located in the range area.
The Lena-Angara Plateau, is a plateau in Siberia. Administratively it is in the Irkutsk Oblast, Russian Federation. The plateau is named after the Lena and Angara rivers, of which it forms the watershed. Rivers on the plateau flow mostly in a south–north direction.
Kow Ata is an underground lake in an eponymous cave near Bäherden in Turkmenistan, at the foot of the Kopet Dag. It is the largest in Commonwealth of Independent States.
Tryokhgolovy Golets is the highest peak in the Primorsky Range, Irkutsk Oblast, Russia.
