SSC
Which is the world's largest inland water body (lake)?
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Answer: Option D — Caspian Sea
Detailed Solution
The Caspian Sea is the largest enclosed inland body of water on Earth by area, covering about 3,71,000 square kilometres. Although it is called a "sea", it is generally classified as the world's largest lake, because it is completely surrounded by land and has no natural outlet to the ocean.
The Caspian Sea lies between Europe and Asia, bordered by five countries: Russia (north-west), Kazakhstan (north-east), Turkmenistan (south-east), Iran (south) and Azerbaijan (west). Its water is brackish (moderately salty), with a salinity about one-third that of normal sea water. Its surface lies about 28 metres below sea level.
The main river flowing into the Caspian is the Volga, the longest river in Europe, which provides about 80% of its inflow. Other rivers include the Ural, Kura and Terek. Water is lost only through evaporation.
The Caspian Sea is rich in natural resources:
It has large reserves of oil and natural gas. Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, on its western shore, was one of the world's earliest oil-producing centres.
It is famous for sturgeon fish, which produce the world's most expensive caviar (fish eggs). Overfishing and pollution have made sturgeon endangered.
It is home to the Caspian seal, found only there.
The legal status of the Caspian, whether it is a sea or a lake, has been debated because it affects how its resources are divided. In 2018, the five countries signed the Convention on the Legal Status of the Caspian Sea, giving it a special status.
Other record lakes:
- Lake Superior (USA-Canada): the largest freshwater lake by area, one of the Great Lakes.
- Lake Baikal (Russia): the deepest, oldest and largest freshwater lake by volume.
- Lake Victoria (Africa): the largest tropical lake and second-largest freshwater lake by area.
Aral Sea (Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan): once the fourth-largest lake in the world, it has shrunk dramatically since the 1960s because the rivers feeding it (the Amu Darya and Syr Darya) were diverted for irrigation; it is one of the world's worst environmental disasters.
Lake Titicaca (Peru-Bolivia): the highest navigable lake.
Why not the other options?
- ✗Lake Superior is the largest freshwater lake by area.
- ✗Lake Baikal is the deepest and largest by freshwater volume.
- ✗The Aral Sea has shrunk greatly due to irrigation.
Quick tip
Remember: Caspian Sea = largest lake by area (5 countries, Volga flows in, caviar, oil at Baku); Superior = largest freshwater by area; Baikal = deepest; Aral Sea = shrunk due to irrigation.
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World Geography — Preparation
This question tests your understanding of World Geography, a key topic in the General Knowledge section. The detailed solution above uses a step-by-step approach to show the reasoning, and where available, a shortcut that helps you solve similar questions in under 90 seconds during the actual exam.
This topic covers the physical and political geography of the world: continents, major countries, mountain ranges, plateaus, rivers, deserts, grasslands, and the world's important cities, ports and resources. Exams test the longest rivers (the Nile and the Amazon), the highest peaks and the ranges they belong to, the largest deserts, and the local names of grasslands, such as the Prairies, Pampas, Steppes and Veld. Questions on cities located on rivers, such as Baghdad on the Tigris or London on the Thames, are also common. Practise the world geography questions below, written in the style of the general awareness sections of exams such as SSC, banking, railways, CUET GAT, MAH CET and CLAT. Each question comes with a detailed explanation that adds related facts, so every question helps you revise more than one point.