The winners for the largest caves in the world can be based on several different conceptions. If the largest caves are those with the largest chambers, then there is a clear winner. The cave with the largest chamber is the Son Doong cave in on the Laotian-Vietnamese border. The largest chamer in the Son Doong cave system is about 3.1 miles (about 5 km) long, about 492 feet (150 m) wide, and about 656 feet (200 m) tall. The runner-up for the cave with the largest chamber is Malaysian cave Gua Nasib Bagus, located in Gunung Mulu National Park, with the chamber in question being named Sarawak Chamber. Sarawak Chamber is 2,300 feet (about 700 m) long, 1,300 feet (about 396 m) wide, and around 230 feet (about 70 m) high. After Gua Nasib Bagus, the next largest chamber is in the Carlsbad Caverns, located at Carlsbad Caverns National Park in New Mexico, in which the Big Room, a natural limestone chamber, is almost 4,000 feet (about 1,219 m) long, 625 feet (190.5 m) wide, and 350 feet (about 107 m) high at the highest point.
There are other caves, however, that would take the prize for the largest caves if we considered length or depth. If the largest caves are the longest caves, then we also have a standout candidate. The longest cave is the Mammoth Cave System in Kentucky, with a length of at least 365 miles (about 587 km). It is nearly twice the length of the runner-up, Jewel Cave in South Dakota, with a length of 140 miles (about 225 km). Of the top ten caves for length, five are in the United States, with two in Kentucky (Fisher Ridge and Mammoth Cave Systems), two in South Dakota (Jewel and Wind Caves), and one in New Mexico (Lechuguilla Cave). There are also two in Mexico (Sistema Ox Bel Ha and Sistema Sac Actun, which are both under water), two in Switzerland (Hoelloch and Siebenhengste-hohgant Hoehlensystem), and one in the Ukraine (Optymistychna).
It could be, however, that the largest caves are the ones with the greatest depth. In this case, the winner is not so far and above the others, nevertheless, Krubera-Voronja Cave in the country of Georgia is the deepest cave at 7,185 feet (2,190 m). The runner-up for depth is Illyuzia-Mezhonnogo-Snezhnaya, also in Georgia, with a depth of 5,751 feet (1,753 m). It is interesting that the runner-up in depth is almost twice as long as the winner, in this case: 14.96 miles (24.1 km) compared to 8.22 miles (13.23 km). Of the top ten deepest caves, four are in Georgia (Illuzia-Snezhnaja-Mezhonnogo, Krubera-Voronja, Sarma and Shakta Vjacheslav Pantjukhina Caves), two in Spain (Torca del Cerro del Cuevon-La Torca de las Saxifragas and Sima de la Cornisa-Torca Magali Caves), two in France (Gouffre Mirolda and Jean Bernard Caves), one in Austria (the Vogelshacht and Lamprechtsofen Caves which are connected), and one in Slovenia (Ceki 2 Cave).
