The USGS fact sheet states: "Lake Baikal is the largest freshwater lake on Earth containing 23,000 cubic kilometers of water, or roughly 20 percent of the world's total surface fresh water. It contains as much fresh water as the Great Lakes of North America combined. At over 1,600 meters (5250 feet), it is the deepest lake in the world." This describes Baikal as the deepest lake but only specifies the depth as "over 1,600 meters," without giving an exact figure such as 1,642 m.

In an image caption, USGS describes Lake Baikal as: "Lake Baikal, the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake, curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border." It further specifies: "At its deepest point it is over 5,000 feet (1,637 meters) deep." This gives an approximate maximum depth of 1,637 m, slightly different from 1,642 m.

Lake Baikal in Russia is the world’s deepest and oldest freshwater lake. At its deepest point, the lake floor lies more than 1.6 kilometers (1 mile) below the surface. Baikal holds about 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen freshwater.

Lake Baikal, in the Russian region of Siberia, is the world’s deepest, and one of the oldest, lakes, containing around 20 per cent of the world’s unfrozen fresh water. The lake reaches a maximum depth of over 1,600 metres, and is home to thousands of species of plants and animals, many of which are found nowhere else.

The World Lake Database entry for Baikal lists specific morphometric data: under the table it gives "Maximum depth [m], 1,741 ; Mean depth [m], 740" and in another table: "Maximum depth [m] | 1,741". This database therefore reports a maximum depth of 1,741 meters for Lake Baikal, which is significantly deeper than 1,642 m and would also support the idea that Baikal is the deepest lake.

The FEOW page on Lake Baikal states: "Lake Baikal (Siberia) is the deepest (1632 m) and largest freshwater lake (volume 23,015 km3) on earth." It also provides basin-specific depths: "The length of the coastline is 1800 km, average depth is 731 m, and maximum depth is 1631 m." Later it notes division into basins with "central basin (1632 m)" as the deepest. These figures (around 1,631–1,632 m) differ from 1,642 m and 1,741 m found in other sources.

NASA Earth Observatory notes: "Lake Baikal in southern Siberia is the world’s oldest and deepest freshwater lake." It adds that the lake holds about 20 percent of the world’s unfrozen surface freshwater. In the commonly cited description of its physical characteristics, NASA states that Baikal is "more than 1,600 meters (5,300 feet) deep" at its deepest point, using a rounded depth rather than a precise value like 1,642 m.

The table below lists the 20 deepest lakes in the world. Name 1. Baikal 2. Tanganyika 3. Caspian Sea 4. Vostok 5. O'Higgins-San Martin ... Depth 5,369 ft (1,637 m) 4,826 ft (1,471 m) 3,362 ft (1,025 m) ... This list identifies Lake Baikal as the deepest lake, with a depth of 5,369 feet (1,637 meters), followed by Lake Tanganyika at 4,826 feet (1,471 meters).

The maximum sounded depth of 1642 m was measured by Hydrographic Service of Central Administration of Navigation and Oceanography and shown at the map "Lake Baikal", scale 1:500,000, published in 1992. Depth maximum – 1637 m (sounded 1642). The deepest among the world's lakes.

It’s very long, narrow and towered by mountains, and it fills a gargantuan crack in the earth's crust. The deepest point in that crack is over 1,600 metres deep. So the lake is more than a mile deep. And because of its great depth, this is the largest lake by volume.

A feature on Lake Baikal states: "No lake has a greater depth than Baikal, measuring 5,387 feet (1,642 meters)." It describes this depth as belonging to "the lake’s central basin, which is one of three basins within the lake."

The map above shows the depth of Russia’s Lake Baikal compared to the Great Lakes. It is the world’s deepest lake and at with a maximum depth of 1,642 m (5,387 ft) or 4 times deeper than Lake Superior.

Although it is not the largest by surface area, Lake Baikal is well known as the deepest lake by volume. Measuring at 5,387 ft (1,642 m) deep, the lake is over a mile deep. This lake accounts for over 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water which is more water than all of the Great Lakes in the USA combined.

Widely used reference compilations in geophysics and limnology describe Lake Baikal as the deepest lake in the world, with reported maximum depths typically in the range 1,620–1,642 meters depending on measurement method and rounding. These datasets also consistently rank Lake Tanganyika second, which supports the claim that Baikal is the deepest lake globally.

In the narration, the presenter states: "Baikal is the deepest lake in the world. The maximum depth of the lake is 1642 meters and this is the biggest reservoir of fresh water on Earth." This description emphasizes both its status as deepest lake and its maximum depth figure.

In this educational video, the narrator states: "Its deepest point is a staggering 1,642 m deep, making [Lake Baikal] the world's deepest freshwater lake." The video also mentions that the lake bed lies about 1,186 m below sea level. While this is a secondary, non-academic source, it explicitly repeats the 1,642 m maximum depth figure and the claim that Baikal is the deepest freshwater lake.