1
Qinghai Lake
- Maximum mapped water extent (km²)
- 4449
Top 10Updated October 16, 2026
Top 10 Largest Natural Lakes in China by Maximum Mapped Extent (1984–2018)
Ranked by maximum mapped water extent during 1984–2018 in a national remote-sensing lake inventory. These figures are not current water levels or measurements from a single date; other observation windows and lake-boundary definitions can produce different values.
Top 3
- 1Qinghai Lake
- 2
About this ranking
- Ranking type
- Data ranking
- Data as of
- December 31, 2018
- Last source review
- October 16, 2026
Follow the national lake inventory by Zhang Wensong and Song Chunqiao in the National Remote Sensing Bulletin. Use GSWD maximum water extent (MWE) from 1984–2018 for features identified as natural lakes, removing non-lake water bodies such as rivers, reservoirs, paddies, and wetlands. The authors estimate areas with the Mollweide equal-area projection. This table reproduces the first ten of the paper’s 13 lakes above 1,000 km² in the published order and values; it does not mix observation years, seasons, or reference water levels. Each area is the maximum mapped extent in the study period, not a current lake area or a water level on a single date.
References: 4. Page edits do not imply that the underlying data is newer.
Change history
- The old table claimed to rank lakes by “normal surface area,” but mixed different observation years, normal or standard levels, flood-season maxima, and satellite values across Qinghai, Poyang, Dongting, Selin Co, Namtso, Bosten, and Hongze. Taihu also combined normal surface area with a figure including islands. Those figures cannot be compared directly. Rechecking one national remote-sensing inventory changes both values and order: use maximum mapped water extent during 1984–2018. Its top ten are Qinghai, Poyang, Taihu, Dongting, Selin Co, Hulun, Qarhan Salt Lake, Namtso, Hongze, and Ebinur. The old list omitted Qarhan and Ebinur while including Bosten and Nansi. The paper gives Ebinur as tenth at 1,116.85 km² and Bosten as eleventh at 1,042.04 km², so the cutoff is verifiable on the same basis. The title, method, and metric label now state that these are multi-date remote-sensing maximum extents from 1984–2018, not present-day lake areas. [corpus433:ccf6a5077f28f1aa7037fa924200d8f8a68a74a7029016c33799e080e0d7ce2f]
Interesting Facts & Summary
Using one study period, lake inventory, boundary method, and equal-area projection, the ten are Qinghai, Poyang, Taihu, Dongting, Selin Co, Hulun, Qarhan Salt Lake, Namtso, Hongze, and Ebinur. Ebinur is tenth at 1,116.85 km²; Bosten follows at 1,042.04 km² in the source. These are maximum mapped extents during 1984–2018, not today’s lake areas.
Report a data error
No sign-in required. Feedback is reviewed before any content is changed. Limit: 5 per day.
Sources
- CHINA-LAKE-INVENTORY-1984-2018 · 《遥感学报》；中国科学院南京地理与湖泊研究所、南京大学研究团队Spatial distribution and dynamics of lakes in China: Progress in remote sensing monitoring at national scale and new inventory of the maximum lake extent and change trajectory
Ranks and areas follow the national maximum-lake-extent inventory published in section 3.2. The study covers 1984–2018, uses the GSWD maximum water extent (MWE), manually removes non-natural water bodies such as rivers, reservoirs, paddies, and wetlands, and estimates area with the Mollweide equal-area projection. The paper lists all 13 lakes whose maximum mapped extent exceeds 1,000 km²; this ranking uses its first ten. These are maxima within the study period, not current areas or measurements from a single date.
Accessed: 2026-10-16 - CHINA-ENCYCLOPEDIA-SILING-CO · 中国大百科全书Siling Co
List Stats
Views104
Items10
CategoryGeography & Cities
Comments