1 cubic kilometre
1 km³Volume · definition
The quantity is exact as entered. Comparisons use the clearly stated specimen, model or nominal measurement.
Volume & capacity
Just how much is 1 cubic kilometre?
Lakes & oceans
1 km³
1 cubic kilometre
The quantity is exact as entered.
1 km³Volume
Too small to see at this scale. The ring marks its true-scale position, not its volume. The shape has not been enlarged.
A cubic-kilometre lake
A cubic-kilometre lake is a hypothetical body of freshwater defined as containing exactly one cubic kilometre of water.
1 km³Volume
Too small to see at this scale. The ring marks its true-scale position, not its volume. The shape has not been enlarged.
These are equal-volume cubes. Edge lengths grow with the cube root of capacity; the cubes do not depict container exteriors.
A little perspective
1 cubic kilometre is approximately equal to the volume of a cubic-kilometre lake.
Measurements, assumptions & sources +
1 cubic kilometre
Volume: 1 km³; definition.
The quantity is exact as entered. Comparisons use the clearly stated specimen, model or nominal measurement.
A cubic-kilometre lake
Volume: 1 km³; example.
A defined 1 km³ water volume, with no claimed shoreline or depth profile.
Defined examples — our methodology
The marked volume is calibrated. Unmeasured illustration details are representative.
Measurement details
Why these numbers?
Compare 1 cubic kilometre with the volume of a cubic-kilometre lake. The notes below explain how each value was chosen.
A cubic-kilometre lake
1 km³Volume · example
A defined 1 km³ water volume, with no claimed shoreline or depth profile.
- Comparing
- Volume ↔ Volume
- Relative size
- 1 cubic kilometre is approximately equal to the volume of a cubic-kilometre lake.
How to read the visual
The diagram uses the recorded measurements. Details outside the marked spans do not set the scale.
- The volume of a cubic-kilometre lake: This is an illustrative comparison value, not a claim that every example is the same.
Volume measures three-dimensional space; a container’s capacity is not its outside dimensions.
1 × 10¹² Llitres
1 × 10⁹ m³cubic metres
2.6417 × 10¹¹ US galUS gallons
2.1997 × 10¹¹ UK galUK gallons
Change your perspective
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A little smaller. A little larger.