In terms of numbers of lakes, the Eastern Anatolian region is the richest. It contains Turkey's largest, Lake Van (3.713 square kilometres), and the lakes of Ercek, Cildir and Hazar. There are also many lakes in the Taurus mountains area: the Beysehir and Egirdir lakes, and the lakes that contain bitter waters like the Burdur and Acigoller lakes, for example. Around the Sea of Marmara are located the lakes of Sapanca, Iznik, Ulubat, Manyas, Terkos, Kucukcekmece and Buyukcekmece. In Central Anatoia is the second largest lake in Turkey: Tuzgolu: The waters of this lake are shallow and very salty. The lakes of Aksehir and Eber are also located in this region.
As a result of the construction of dams during the past thirty years, several large dam lakes have come into existence. Together with the Atatürk Dam lake which started to collect water in January 1990, the following are good examples: Keban, Karakaya, Altinkaya, Adiguzel, Kilickaya, Karacaoren, Menzelet, Kapulukaya, Hirfanli, Sariyar and Demirkopru.
Van 3,713 km² Van – Bitlis
Tuz 1,500 km² Konya- Aksaray-Ankara
Beyşehir 656 km² Isparta- Konya
Eğirdir 468 km² Isparta
Akşehir 323 km² Afyonkarahisar-Konya
İznik 298 km² Bursa
Burdur 200 km² Burdur
Manyas (Kuş) 166 km² Balıkesir
Acıgöl 153 km² Afyonkarahisar
Ulubat 134 km² Bursa
Atatürk 817 km² Adıyaman-Şanlıurfa
Keban 675 km² Elazığ-Tunceli
Karakaya 268 km² Malatya
Hirfanlı 263 km² Kırşehir
Altınkaya 118 km² Samsun
Sarıyar 84 km² Ankara
Seyhan 68 km² Adana
Demirköprü 47 km² Manisa
Almus 32 km² Tokat
Hasan Uğurlu 23 km² Amasya