Splashing in Big Puddles Trivia Quiz

For the purposes of this quiz, I am qualifying the Caspian Sea as a lake, joining the others of that category. It is the largest inland body of water, and actually only has about one third of the salinity of regular seawater.

It has a surface area of approximately 371,000 km2 (143,000 sq mi), and borders Kazakhstan and Russia to the north, Turkmenistan to the east, Azerbaijan to the west, and Iran to the south.

Located on the border between Canada and the United States of America, Lake Superior truly is the superior lake in North America, with a surface area of approximately 82,100 km2 (31,700 sq mi).

As the northern- and westernmost of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior was extremely important for early European exploration of North America, and for the movement of goods and people for trade and commerce from (and to) Europe via the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The largest of the African Great Lakes, Lake Victoria is divided between Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya. While it is considered to be part of the Rift Valley System of lakes, it actually lies between the Eastern and Western Rift Valleys.

Lake Victoria has a surface area of approximately 59,947 km2 (23,146 sq mi), and while that makes it the third largest lake in the world (and second largest freshwater lake), it is only the ninth largest in terms of volume.

The second-largest of the five North American Great Lakes, Lake Huron is wedged between the others, with Lake Superior and Lake Michigan to the west, Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to the east. Lake Huron has a surface area of 59,590 km2 (23,007 sq mi), but is only third on the list among the Great Lakes for the biggest volume (after Superior and Michigan).

Lake Michigan is the third-largest of the North American Great Lakes by surface area, at 58,030 km2 (22,404 sq mi). It also happens to be the only one of the Great Lakes that is fully within the United States of America, and not sharing a Canadian border like the other four. That also makes it the largest lake fully within the borders of only one country.

Chicago, Illinois, one of America's largest cities, is located at the extreme southwest corner of the lake. The other states that border Lake Michigan include Wisconsin, Indiana, Michigan, and the aforementioned Illinois.

Lake Tanganyika is one of the African Great Lakes, located in the Albertine Rift Valley. It is the longest freshwater lake in the world, measuring 676 km (420 mi) in length, north to south. Sharing a border between Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Burundi, and Zambia, this long lake is drained by the Lukaga River, part of the Congo River system, which eventually makes its way to the Atlantic Ocean.

Lake Baikal can be found in Siberia in Russia. While it is towards the bottom of my list of the ten largest lakes in the world, it is the deepest lake in the world, with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 feet). This great depth also allows for more volume, and despite being the seventh-largest in surface area, it is largest freshwater lake by volume, with enough water to fill all five of the North American Great Lakes!

Lake Baikal's surface area is approximately 31,722 km2 (12,248 sq mi).

Great Bear Lake is a glacial lake located in Canada's Northwest Territories. It has a surface area of 31,153 km2 (12,028 sq mi), making it the fourth-largest lake in North America, beating out the two smallest of the Great Lakes (Ontario and Erie), and the largest lake fully within Canadian borders.

Straddling the Arctic Circle, Great Bear Lake is the northernmost of the ten large puddles featured in this quiz.

Lake Malawi is the third African Great Lake to make the top ten, located in the East African Rift Valley, sharing a border with Malawi, Mozambique and Tanzania. In Mozambique it is known as Lago Niassa, and as Lake Nyasa in Tanzania.

It's a good thing that Lake Malawi is so big, as it is home to more fish species than any other lake. Its surface area is approximately 29,600 km2 (11,400 sq mi), and while it only makes number nine on this top ten list, it is the fourth-largest freshwater lake in the world by volume.

Located to the south and east of Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake rounds out the top ten largest lakes (by surface area) in the world with an area of approximately 27,200 km2 (10,500 sq mi). Located within the borders of Canada's Northwest Territories, Great Slave Lake also has the territorial capital, Yellowknife, on its shore, located on the northern arm of the lake.