Khuvsgul Lake is a lake in Khövsgöl Province, Mongolia. It is the largest freshwater lake in the country by volume and second largest by area after Uvs Lake. It is nicknamed the "Younger sister" of those two "sister lakes". It is located in the northwest of Mongolia near the Russian border, at the foot of the eastern Sayan Mountains. It is 5,397 ft above sea level, 85 miles long and 860 ft deep. It is the second most voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, and holds almost 70% of Mongolia's fresh water and 0.4% of all the fresh water in the world. The town of Hatgal lies at the southern end of the lake.Khuvsgul Lake watershed is relatively small, and it has only small tributaries. It is drained at the southern end by the Egiin river, which connects to the Selenge and ultimately flows into Lake Baikal. Between the two lakes, its waters travel more than 621 miles, and fall 3,835 ft, although the line of sight distance is only about 124 miles. Its location in northern Mongolia forms one part of the southern border of the great Siberian taiga forest, where the dominant tree is the Siberian larch.
