this is a listing of the reservoirs (artificial lakes) in the world with a surface area exceeding . reservoirs can be formed conventionally, by damming the outlet of a canyon or valley to form a lake; the largest of this type is ghana's lake volta, with a water surface of . reservoirs can also be formed by damming the outlets of natural lakes to regulate water levels, such as those at uganda's owen falls dam (lake victoria) and russia's irkutsk dam (lake baikal). these are included and indicated with light blue cell background.