| Baikal in numbers | |
| Arear of Baikal's catchment | 570 000 sq.km. |
| Total area of Baikal's basin | 300 000 sq. km. |
| Length (talweg) | 636 km. |
| Width maximum (abeam of Onguren and Ust-Barguzin villages) | 79.5 km. |
| Width minimum | 25 km. |
| Width medium | 47.8 km. |
| Length of the shoreline | 2000 km. |
| Arear of the surface (including islands) | 31500 km. |
| Number of tributaries | About 500 |
| Depth maximum | 1642 m. |
| Depth average | 758 m. |
| Depth of the Southern basin: | |
| Maximum | 1446 m. |
| Medium | 843 m. |
| Depth of the Central basin: | |
| Maximum | 1642 m. |
| Medium | 854 m. |
| Depth of the Northern basin: | |
| Maximum | 903 m. |
| Medium | 576 m. |
| The lake surface above sea level | 454 m. |
| Areas of Baikal bays: | |
| Barguzinsky | 791 sq. km. |
| Chivyrkuisky | 268 sq. km. |
| Maloe Sea | 1019 sq. km. |
| Total area of 22 islands: | 716 sq. km. |
| Olkhon Island | |
| Length | 71.7 km. |
| Width maximum | 14 km. |
| Area | 700 sq. km. |
| Altitude above sea level (Zhima Mountain) | 1274 m. |
| Archipelago of Ushkanie Islands: | |
| Area of Big Ushkany Island | 15 sq. km. |
| Altitude about sea level | 216 m. |
| Water level average changes under the natural conditions | 82 cm. |
| Water level seasonal changes | 60-120 cm. |
| Water level multiyear amplitude of level changes | 2.23cm. |
| Number of capes on Baikal: | |
| The North-western shore | 101 |
| The South-eastern shore | 73 |
| Duration of sun radiance (in the North of the lake) | 1900-2000 hours/ year |
| Duration of sun radiance in the Southern and Central parts of the lake | 2000-2400 hours /year |
| Duration of baric seasons for Baikal Region | 4-5 months |
| Duration of cold season for Baikal Region | up to 7 months |
| Moisture evaporation | 19.1 cbkm |
| Precipitation | 12.8 cbkm |
| Average annual run-off | 61 cbkm |
| Annual temperature amplitudes (islands, shore) | 50-60ºC |
| Annual temperature amplitudes on the ridges | up to 100ºC |
| Maximum winds power | up to 50 m/sec |
| Average winter temperature | -25ºC |
| Average summer temperature | +17ºC |
| Geological age (Cretaceous-Late Eocene) | 70-35 mln years |
| Sediments' age (Tompundinskaya moraine) | 39 000 years |
| Sediments' age (Relskaya moraine) | 26 000 years |
| Chernozem silts on the first Baikal terraces | 7000 years |
| Peat bogs of Chivyrkuisky Bay | 10 000-12000 years |
| Thickness of the earth's crust under the mountain ridges of Baikal Region | 45-55 years |
| Minimum thickness to the earth's crust subface in the center of Baikal basin | 34 km |
| Cenozoic sediment thickness in the basin | 3-8.5 km |
| Seismicity (annual number of earthquakes) | >2000 |
| earthquakes' recurrence 7 magnitude | 1-2 years |
| 8 magnitude | 5-10 years |
| 9 magnitude | 50-100 years |
| 10 >10 | 150-200 years |
| Earthquakes' epicenter depth | 12-22 km |
| Maximum altitude of the mountain ridges around Baikal (the Barguzin Mountain Ridge) | 2840 m |
| Area of semicovered glaciers of Meso-Pleistocene glaciation | >10 000 sq km |
| Thickness of mountain and valley glaciers | >1000 m |
| Sloping piedmont plain (abrasive relief) occupies area from the shores of Baikal to it depths 10-12 m | 60% |
| Average bottom slope | 30-65º |
| Maximum thermal springs temperature | 80-82º |
| Thickness of many year frozen ground (on interfluve areas) | Up to 0-500-600 m |
| Depth of summer thawing | Up to 0.5-3 m |
| Depth of winter freezing | Up 1 to 5 m |
| Area of mountain and tundra zones | 20% |
| Mountain and forest zone | 45% |
| Mountain and steppe zone | 35% |
| Swell: calm in June-July (waves <0.5 m) | 80% of the time |
| Wave height up to 1.5 m | 80% of all summer storms |
| Wave height >2m | 17% |
| Wave height >3m | 3% |
| In autumn waves can reach 5 m (rare) | |
| Velocity wind currents at the surface | Up to 1.4 m/sec |
| Velocity of circulatory currents at the depths (50m) | 56 cm/sec |
| 250 m | 30 cm/sec |
| 675m | 12 cm/sec |
| 1000m | 8 cm/sec |
| 1200m | 6 cm/sec |
| Average monthly velocities of circulatory currents at the surface | 2-3 km/ day |
| During storms | Up to 8-12 km/ day |
| Duration of substitution of depth waters for surface waters | Up to 11-20 years |
| Duration of water exchange in the Northern basin | 225 years |
| Duration of water exchange in the Central basin | 132 years |
| In the Southern basin | 66 years |
| The whole Baikal | 356 years |
| Water volume total | 23.6x10¹³ liters |
| Sound velocity in Baikal surface waters in winter | 140.2 m/sec |
| Duration of ice covered period | 4-5 months |
| Ice thickness in a freeze-up day | 5-20 cm |
| Speed of the ice growing | From 1 to 5 cm/day |
| Width of constant cracks | 40 cm up to several meters |
| Size of ice fields divided with cracks | 10-30 km |
| Complete release from the ice in the South | 12-16 of May |
| In the North | 9-14 of June |
| Terms of freezing | The beginning of January |
| Total amount of live organisms inhabiting Lake Baikal (species and subspecies) | 2635 |
| Number of endemic hydrobionts | 1800 |
| Omul biomass in Lake Baikal | 26000 ton |
| Nerpa amount | 50 000-100 000 |
| Number of autotrophic pinoplankton | Up to 1 mln cells/ml |
| Biomass of Epishura and cyclop | 1.8 mln ton |