The 10 biggest lakes in Europe – six are in the same country

The European continent is filled with a series of beautiful natural sights and sounds, from rolling valleys to precipitous mountains, from stunning rivers to almighty plains, there is plenty for people to see and enjoy.

There is also a bounty of lakes, especially in Italy, Switzerland and Germany.

While these may be some of the prettiest in the region, they are not the biggest on the continent.

To find the biggest lakes in Europe one has to travel east, much further east, to two countries currently at war with each other.

Ukraine and Russia, currently at war, have eight out of the 10 largest lakes in Europe between them.

In tenth is the Kakhovka Reservoir in Ukraine. Sitting on the Dnieper River, this reservoir measures 2,155 km². According to World Atlas, this lake was dammed in 1956 and provided water to the Krasnoznamensk Irrigation System and the Kakhovka Irrigation System.

Slightly larger than Kakhovka is the Kremenchuk with an area of 2,250 km². Also lying on the Dnieper River it helped to serve agricultural needs and provided a degree of flood control and fishing opportunities during peacetime.

In eighth place is the Tsimlyansk in Russia on the Don River with 2,702 km². This reservoir spans the Rostovo and Volgograd Oblasts and was built to help act as a source of hydroelectric power. Lying between Russia and Estonia is Lake Peipus which sits seventh on the list. This lake is 3,555 km² and used for commercial and recreational purposes.

Missing out on the top five in sixth is Lake Saimaa in Finland. This lake, which is 4,377 km² can be found to the northwest of Russia and northeast of one of Finland’s most famous cities, Helsinki. The lake is linked to the Gulf of Finland via the Saimaa Canal.

Rybinsk Reservoir is the fifth biggest lake in Russia at 4,580km² and, according to reports, informally referred to as the Rybinsk Sea because of its size. A man-made lake, it is used to power a hydroelectric dam on the Volga River. Created in 1941 it was for a time the largest human-made body of water on the planet.

Just missing out on the podium in fourth is Sweden’s Lake Vanern. At 5,655km² it is one of the largest lakes in Western Europe, has an average depth of 27 metres, and is a key source of fish to the local communities.

In third place is another man-made Russian lake, this time the Kuybyshev Reservoir. It is 6,450km² and lies in the Republic of Tatarstan. It is the largest reservoir in Europe and was completed in 1957.

In second place is Russia’s Lake Onega. This 9,894km² leviathan can be found between Leningrad Oblast, Vologda Oblast and Karelia. The lake is so large it has 1,650 islands within it.

In first place is Lake Ladoga, at 17,700km² it’s the largest lake on the continent. Lying just outside St Petersburg it is 219km (136.8miles) long and 83km (51.8miles) wide.