Impounded Water · Ranked
The Largest Reservoirs in the World
Dam-impounded reservoirs ranked by surface area, with the impounding dam and the year each was filled.
How this is ranked: Every water body on this list exists because of a dam. Surface area is ranked here rather than volume, because a shallow reservoir flooding a wide plain can cover far more ground than a deep one in a narrow gorge while holding less water.
- Entries Ranked
- 50
- Top Ranked
- 9,063 km²
- Runner-Up
- 8,175 km²
- Ranked By
- Surface Area
Represa de Sobradinho
Lake Volta
| # | Name | Surface Area | Impounded By | Year | Territory | Map |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Represa de Sobradinho | 9,063 km² | — | 1982 | — | |
| 2 | Lake Volta | 8,175 km² | — | 1965 | — | |
| 3 | Samara Reservoir | 5,757 km² | — | 1955 | — | |
| 4 | Smallwood Reservoir | 5,630 km² | Churchill Falls | 1971 | — | |
| 5 | Lake Kariba | 4,724 km² | Kariba Dam | 1959 | — | |
| 6 | Rybinsk Reservoir | 4,712 km² | — | 1941 | — | |
| 7 | Vilyuy Reservoir | 4,352 km² | — | — | — | |
| 8 | Lake Zaysan | 4,195 km² | Bukhtarma | 1960 | — | |
| 9 | Réservoir Manicouagan | 4,186 km² | — | 1960 | — | |
| 10 | Bratsk Reservoir | 4,078 km² | — | 1964 | — | |
| 11 | Represa de Tucuruí | 3,606 km² | Tucuruí Dam | 1984 | — | |
| 12 | Lake Nasser | 3,575 km² | — | 1970 | — | |
| 13 | Zeya Reservoir | 3,270 km² | Zeya Dam | 1978 | — | |
| 14 | Réservoir de La Grande 2 | 3,229 km² | — | — | — | |
| 15 | Tsimlyansk Reservoir | 3,057 km² | — | 1952 | — | |
| 16 | Cedar Lake | 2,977 km² | Grand Rapids | 1965 | — | |
| 17 | Southern Indian Lake | 2,454 km² | Missi Falls Control | 1976 | — | |
| 18 | Represa Itaipu | 2,418 km² | Itaipu | 1984 | — | |
| 19 | Réservoir de La Grande 3 | 2,408 km² | — | 1982 | — | |
| 20 | Lac de Kossou | 2,375 km² | — | 1973 | — | |
| 21 | Kakhovka Reservoir | 2,045 km² | — | 1956 | — | |
| 22 | Kama Reservoir | 2,033 km² | — | 1954 | — | |
| 23 | Lake Oahe | 1,922 km² | — | 1961 | — | |
| 24 | Kremenchuk Reservoir | 1,897 km² | — | 1959 | — | |
| 25 | Represa Furnas | 1,873 km² | — | 1963 | — | |
| 26 | Professor Doctor Ingenieur W. J. Van Blommestein Meer | 1,855 km² | — | 1964 | — | |
| 27 | Lake Argyle | 1,818 km² | Ord River Dam | 1972 | — | |
| 28 | Réservoir Gouin | 1,807 km² | — | 1918 | — | |
| 29 | Kabalebo Dam | 1,652 km² | Kabalebo Dam | 1982 | — | |
| 30 | Volgograd Reservoir | 1,651 km² | — | 1961 | — | |
| 31 | Williston Lake | 1,650 km² | W.A.C. Bennett Dam | 1967 | — | |
| 32 | Krasnoyarsk Reservoir | 1,644 km² | Krasnoyarsk | 1967 | — | |
| 33 | Lake Sakakawea | 1,626 km² | — | 1956 | — | |
| 34 | Lago Rincon del Bonete | 1,563 km² | — | 1945 | — | |
| 35 | Lago de Cahora Bassa | 1,556 km² | — | 1974 | — | |
| 36 | Buhayrat ath Tharthar | 1,548 km² | — | — | — | |
| 37 | Khantayskoye Reservoir | 1,516 km² | — | 1970 | — | |
| 38 | Lac Seul | 1,512 km² | — | — | — | |
| 39 | Repressa de Jupia | 1,500 km² | Ilha Solteira | — | — | |
| 40 | Bariri | 1,435 km² | Nova Avanhandava | 1982 | — | |
| 41 | Lake Kovdozero | 1,400 km² | Verkhne-Tulomskaya | 1965 | — | |
| 42 | Represa Iepe | 1,360 km² | Capivara | 1976 | — | |
| 43 | Represa Tres Marias | 1,352 km² | Tres Marias | 1960 | — | |
| 44 | Ust-Ilimsk Reservoir | 1,293 km² | — | 1977 | — | |
| 45 | Saratov Reservoir | 1,248 km² | — | 1967 | — | |
| 46 | Embalse de Guri | 1,248 km² | — | — | — | |
| 47 | Kainji Reservoir | 1,238 km² | — | 1968 | — | |
| 48 | Cheboksary Reservoir | 1,214 km² | Cheboksary Dam | 1986 | — | |
| 49 | Oulujarvi | 1,210 km² | Jylhama | 1950 | — | |
| 50 | Gorky Reservoir | 1,169 km² | — | 1955 | — |
Rankings cover entities indexed in YearMaps and are derived from open geospatial data. See data sources.
More Rankings
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- Smallest Countries in the World50 ranked by area
- Tallest Dams in the World50 ranked by height
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- Highest Mountains in the World50 ranked by elevation
- Largest Lakes in the World50 ranked by surface area
- Most Populous Cities in the World50 ranked by population