The lakes in Mongolia are distributed unevenly across the country. Many, including some of the largest, can be found in the Great Lakes Depression

Great Lakes Depression

The Great Lakes Depression is a large semi-arid depression in Mongolia that covers parts of the Uvs, Khovd, Zavkhan and Govi-Altai aimags. Bounded by the Altai in the West, Khangai in the East and Tannu-Ola Mountains in the North,...

 between the Altai, Khangai and Tannu-Ola

Tannu-Ola Mountains

The Tannu-Ola mountains is a mountain range in southern Siberia, in the Tuva Republic of Russia. It extends in an east-west direction and curves along the Mongolian border...

 mountain ranges in the west. A second group can be found in mountain valleys throughout the country. Lake Khövsgöl in a rift valley south of the Russian Sayan Mountains

Sayan Mountains

The Sayan Mountains are a mountain range between northwestern Mongolia and southern Siberia, Russia.The Eastern Sayan extends from the Yenisei River at 92° E to the southwest end of Lake Baikal at 106° E...

 has the largest volume because of its great depth. The remaining lakes found in the steppe areas and in the Gobi desert

Gobi Desert

The Gobi is a large desert region in Asia. It covers parts of northern and northwestern China, and of southern Mongolia. The desert basins of the Gobi are bounded by the Altai Mountains and the grasslands and steppes of Mongolia on the north, by the Hexi Corridor and Tibetan Plateau to the...

 are usually smaller and shallow.

The total area of the lakes is 16,003 km². The 83.7% of the total lakes number are the small lakes with surface area less than 0.1 km² (5.6% of the total area). There are 3,060 lakes with surface area 0.1 km² and more.

Lakes with an area of more than 50 km²

Rank	Name	Mongolian name	Aimag Aimag Aimag is a Mongolian and Turkic word for a tribe.It is also used as a term for country subdivisions in Mongolia and China, see aimag .The name of the Aimak people in central Afghanistan derives from the same root....	Elevation, m	Area, km²	Maximum length, km	Average width, km	Maximum width, km	Average depth, m	Maximum depth, m	Volume, km3
1	Uvs Lake	Увс нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level....	759	3,350	84	40	79	11.9	20	39.6
2	Khövsgöl Lake	Хөвсгөл нуур	Khövsgöl	1,645	2,760	136	20.8	36.5	137.9	262	380.7
3	Khar-Us Lake	Хар-Ус нуур	Khovd	1,157	1,578	72.2	26	27	2.2	4.5	3.432
4	Khyargas Lake	Хяргас нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level....	1,028.5	1.407	75	19	31	46.9	80	66.034
5	Buir Lake	Буйр нуур	Dornod Dornod Province Dornod is the easternmost of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. Its capital is Choibalsan.- Population :Halh are the ethnic majority of the Dornod aimag, but Buryat ethnic group is 22.8% of population total concentrated in the north-eastern sums of Dashbalbar, Tsagaan-Ovoo, Bayan-Uul, Bayandun and...	581	615	40	15	21	6.5	10.2	3.784
6	Khar Lake (Khovd)	Хар нуур	Khovd	1,132	575	37	16	24	4.2	7	2.422
7	Dörgön Lake	Дөргөн нуур	Khovd	1,132	305	24	13	17	14.3	27	4.367
8	Achit Lake	Ачит нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level.... , Khovd	1,435	297	24	12	18	2.2	5	0.665
9	Böön Tsagaan Lake Böön Tsagaan Lake Böön Tsagaan Lake is a large salt lake in the Bayakhongor province of Mongolia. It is located in the Bayanhongor Desert....	Бөөн Цагаан нуур	Bayankhongor	1,312	252	24	11	19	9.3	16	2.355
10	Üüreg Lake	Үүрэг нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level....	1,425	239	20	12	18	26.9	42	6.419
11	Telmen Lake	Тэлмэн нуур	Zavkhan	1,789	194	28	12	16	13.8	27	2.671
12	Ulaan Lake	Улаан нуур	Ömnögovi Ömnögovi Province Ömnögovi is an aimag of Mongolia, located in the south of the country, in the Gobi Desert. Ömnögovi is Mongolia's largest aimag. The capital is Dalanzadgad....	1,008	175
13	Sangiin Dalai Lake	Сангийн Далай нуур	Khövsgöl, Zavkhan	1,888	165	32	5	13	12.1	30	1.995
14	Airag Lake	Айраг нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level....	1,030	143	18	9	13	5.7	10	0.820
15	Orog Lake	Орог нуур	Bayankhongor	1,217	140	31.8	2	7.7	3.0	5	0.420
16	Yakhi Lake	Яхь нуур	Dornod Dornod Province Dornod is the easternmost of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. Its capital is Choibalsan.- Population :Halh are the ethnic majority of the Dornod aimag, but Buryat ethnic group is 22.8% of population total concentrated in the north-eastern sums of Dashbalbar, Tsagaan-Ovoo, Bayan-Uul, Bayandun and...	670	97	20.4	4.2	11.9	2.3	4	0.223
17	Khar Lake (Zavkhan)	Хар нуур	Zavkhan	1,980	84.5	29.3	3.5	6.6	19.6	47	1.654
18	Tolbo Lake	Толбо нуур	Bayan-Ölgii	2,080	84	21	4	7	6.8	12	0.571
19	Khurgan Lake	Хурган нуур	Bayan-Ölgii	2,072	71	23.3	3	6	7.8	28	0.537
20	Dayan Lake	Даян нуур	Bayan-Ölgii	2,232	67	18	4	9	2.3	4	0.157
21	Dood Tsagaan Nuur	Доод Цагаан нуур	Khövsgöl	1,538	64	18	4	7	6.0	14	0.384
22	Bayan Lake	Баян нуур	Zavkhan	1,491	64	14	5	8	21.7	50	1.390
23	Khar-Us Lake, Uvs	Хар-Ус нуур	Uvs Uvs Province Uvs is one of the 21 aimags of Mongolia. It is located in the west of the country, 1336 km away from the national capital Ulaanbaatar.Its capital is Ulaangom which lies 936m above the Sea level....	1,574	63	19	5	7.8	5.2	8.2	0.3265
24	Oigon Lake	Ойгон нуур	Zavkhan	1,664	61	18	3	8	3.4	8	0.207
25	Terkhiin Tsagaan Lake	Тэрхийн Цагаан нуур	Arkhangai	2,060	61	16	4	6	6.0	20	0.369
26	Khoton Lake	Хотон нуур	Bayan-Ölgii	2,084	50	22	2.3	4	26.8	58	1.341