Lake Geneva is a crescent-shaped lake shared between France and Switzerland, and overlooked by the Alps.
Lake Geneva Facts
The largest city on the shores of Lake Geneva in Geneva.
Lake Geneva has been explored by four submarines.
The lake forms the border between France and Switzerland.
The deepest point is 310 m deep.
The biggest contributing river is the Rhone, other important tributaries are the Dranse, the Venoge and the Aubonne.
Lake Geneva is the largest Alpine lake in Europe.
There are six small islands in the lake: Île de la Harpe, Île de Salagno, Île de Peilz, Île de Choisi, Île Rousseau and The island with Chillon castle.
The Pierres du Niton are two erratic stones in the lake in Geneva. They were deposited there during the last ice age.
The first recorded name of the lake is Lacus Lemannus, dating from Roman times.
The average surface elevation of 372 m above sea level.
Lake Geneva is divided into three parts because of its different types of formation: sedimentation, tectonic folding, glacial erosion.
Yacht racing is a popular sport, and high-performance catamarans have been developed specifically for the lake.
In the late 1960s, the pollution made it dangerous to swim at some parts of the lake, the visibility underwater was close to zero, In 1980s the pollution was so bad it had almost wiped out all the fish. This has now improved and it’s now safe to swim again.
The Lavaux vineyard terraces plunge into Lake Geneva is listed as a UNESCO world heritage site.
The lake has 20 indigenous species of fish and 6 that were introduced in the 19th century.
Prehistoric lake dwellings have been found on the shores.
Lake Geneva is the largest body of water in Switzerland.
The first recorded name of the lake is Lacus Lemannus, dating from Roman times; Lemannus comes from Ancient Greek Liménos Límnē, meaning “port’s lake”.
The Rhone traverses the lake, and exits at Geneva. On average, its waters take 11.4 years to traverse the lake.
The lake surface is the lowest point of the Valais and Vaud cantons & the Greatest depth can be found in the broader portion between Lausanne and Evian-Les-Bains.
Lake Name: | Lake Geneva |
Country (s): | Switzerland, France |
Surface Area: | 572 km2 |
Maximum Depth: | 310 m |
Average Depth: | 156 m |
Lake Type: | Glacial |
Altitude: | 370 m |
In Flow | Rhone & Dranse |
Out Flow | Rhone |