Ranked: Countries With the Most LakesKey TakeawaysCanada has nearly 880,000 lakes, accounting for 62% of the 1.42 million lakes in this dataset.Canada alone has more lakes than the rest of the world combined, followed by Russia with 201,240 and the U.S. with 102,519.Canada has 4.4 times as many lakes as Russia, but only about 1.3 times as much total lake area.Which country has the most lakes in the world? The answer isn’t particularly close.Past ice sheets helped shape some of the world’s most lake-rich landscapes, particularly across the Northern Hemisphere. That glacial history is still visible in today’s rankings.This visualization ranks countries by their number of lakes, based on HydroLAKES data. It includes lakes covering at least 0.04 square miles (0.1 sq. km), while excluding reservoirs and regulated lakes. Cross-border lakes are assigned to the country where their water drains out.Where the World’s 1.4 Million Lakes Are LocatedBeyond Canada’s commanding lead, the ranking drops quickly. Russia ranks second with 201,240 lakes, followed by the U.S. with 102,519. China is a distant fourth with 23,751.Together, Canada, Russia, and the U.S. hold over 83% of the 1.42 million lakes in the dataset. RankCountryNumber of Lakes1 Canada879,7632 Russia201,2403 U.S.102,5194 China23,7515 Sweden22,5766 Brazil20,9367 Norway20,0068 Argentina13,6129 Kazakhstan12,42910 Australia11,43711 India10,81212 Finland7,89813 Chile5,57114 Ukraine4,91515 Poland3,71716 Mexico3,69317 Denmark3,28118 Colombia3,26219 Bolivia3,20020 Germany3,07321 Indonesia3,02222 Peru2,81423 France2,66324 South Africa2,37025 United Kingdom2,29426 Mongolia2,16427 Venezuela1,98728 Thailand1,97229 Iceland1,59030 Madagascar1,50731 Belarus1,42032 Philippines1,29033 Bangladesh1,17434 Cuba1,14835 Lithuania1,09436 South Sudan1,09137 Zimbabwe1,07738 Vietnam1,05039 Romania1,01140 Ecuador98941 Democratic Republic of the Congo91942 Papua New Guinea91443 Ireland86344 Latvia84545 Botswana84346 Pakistan83747 Zambia83648 Sri Lanka82749 Czech Republic70750 Hungary66851 Nigeria65652 Uzbekistan63853 Mozambique63554 Mali62755 South Korea59756 Italy59657 The Bahamas59558 Cambodia59359 Spain58660 Myanmar57761 Paraguay57662 Turkey55663 Moldova54164 Netherlands53765 Turkmenistan49366 New Zealand45867 Japan45768 Uruguay44269 Angola41970 Chad39971 Malaysia38572 Bulgaria36773 Azerbaijan36174 Iran32775 United Republic of Tanzania32575 Iraq32577 North Korea29078 Namibia25978 Estonia25980 Uganda25781 Ethiopia23782 Gabon22082 Egypt22082 Burkina Faso22085 Senegal21486 Nicaragua20387 Guatemala19888 Austria19689 Portugal19390 Ivory Coast18591 Honduras17992 Ghana17892 Republic of Serbia17894 Cameroon17195 Kyrgyzstan16196 Croatia15897 Belize15298 Slovakia14999 Greece144100 Taiwan137100 Belgium137102 Albania134103 Algeria127104 Republic of Congo126104 Niger126104 Tajikistan126107 Afghanistan120108 Kenya119109 Kiribati114110 Mauritania101110 Bhutan101112 Sudan98112 Israel98114 Switzerland83115 Syria81116 Laos80117 Guyana78118 Morocco77119 Tunisia76120 Georgia74121 Panama69122 Rwanda67123 Nepal65124 Libya63125 Malawi61126 Suriname60127 Sierra Leone57128 Benin54129 Saudi Arabia51130 Haiti50131 Solomon Islands49132 Bosnia and Herzegovina48133 Slovenia40134 Dominican Republic38135 Costa Rica37136 Central African Republic32137 Liberia29137 Armenia29139 El Salvador27140 Brunei26141 Guinea Bissau25142 Guinea24143 Togo21143 Jamaica21145 Jordan19146 Eritrea17146 Macedonia17148 Somalia16148 Burundi16148 Fiji16151 Montenegro14152 Antigua and Barbuda12152 Vanuatu12154 Mauritius11154 United Arab Emirates11154 Oman11157 Gambia9157 Yemen9157 Trinidad and Tobago9160 Singapore8161 Swaziland7161 Lesotho7163 Tonga6164 Djibouti4164 East Timor4164 Luxembourg4164 Kosovo4164 Kuwait4169 Equatorial Guinea3169 Federated States of Micronesia3171 Cape Verde2171 Maldives2171 Cyprus2171 Tuvalu2175 Seychelles1175 Comoros1175Northern Cyprus1175 Qatar1175 Bahrain1175 Saint Kitts and Nevis1175 Samoa1175 Palau1-- Total Number of Lakes1,420,891Counting lakes tells a very different story from measuring their size. Canada’s lakes cover about 313,800 square miles, compared with 240,400 square miles for Russia. Russia’s total includes the Caspian Sea, the world’s largest lake by surface area.The lake threshold matters, too. Finland has about 168,000 lakes of at least 0.0002 square miles, but only 7,898 meet the 0.04-square-mile threshold used in this dataset.Why Canada and Russia Have So Many LakesThe concentration of lakes across Canada and Russia is closely tied to their northern geography.Over successive ice ages, enormous ice sheets reshaped northern landscapes, leaving these areas particularly conducive to lake formation. As the ice retreated, depressions and altered drainage systems filled with water.Russia’s lake geography also includes one of the world’s most remarkable bodies of freshwater. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world’s deepest and holds about 20% of the planet’s unfrozen freshwater reserves.Lake Count Doesn’t Tell the Whole StoryLake count can look very different from lake area. Kazakhstan has roughly half as many lakes as Sweden, yet its lakes cover more than twice the total area, at about 22,300 square miles.At the other extreme, many of the world’s driest countries have few permanent lakes. Across parts of the Middle East and North Africa, water supplies depend more heavily on groundwater, rivers, and desalination.Learn More on the Voronoi AppTo learn more about this topic, check out this graphic on the countries with the most freshwater.