Chemical characteristics of main Antarctic saline lakes found in the oases of McMurdo, Vestfold and Syowa are reviewed. Lakes are primarily classified into the fresh and saline ones and then the latter into coastal lakes and those located in the glacial through such as the dry valleys, Victoria Land. The saline lakes in the dry valleys have a complex origin. From the geochemical point of view, it is suggested that the formation of the coastal lakes was much later than that of the lakes in the dry valleys.