Lake Onega

Lake Onega
Coordinates	61°30′N 35°45′E / 61.5°N 35.75°E / 61.5; 35.75Coordinates: 61°30′N 35°45′E / 61.5°N 35.75°E / 61.5; 35.75
Primary  inflows	58 rivers (Shuya, Suna, Vodla, Vytegra, Andoma)
Primary  outflows	River Svir
Basin  countries	Russia
Surface area	9,894 km2 (3,820 sq mi)
Average depth	70 m (230 ft)
Max. depth	120 m (390 ft)
Water volume	280 km3 (67 cu mi)
Surface  elevation	33 m (110 ft)
Islands	1,369 (Kizhi Island)
Settlements	Kondopoga, Medvezhyegorsk, Petrozavodsk, Pindushi, Povenets

Lake Onega (also known as Onego, Russian: Онежское озеро, Onezhskoe ozero, i.e., Onezhskoe lake; Finnish/Karelian: Ääninen or Äänisjärvi) is a lake in Russia.

Geography

Lake Onega has a surface area of 9,894 km², a volume of 280 km³ and a maximum depth of 120 m. It is the second largest lake in Europe, and the 18th largest lake by area in the world. It has 1,369 islands with a total area of 250 km².

The catchment area of 51 540 km² drains into the lake via 58 rivers, including the Shuya, Suna, Vodla, Vytegra, and Andoma. The Svir, which marks the southern boundary of Karelia, runs from the southwestern shore of Lake Onega to Lake Ladoga and continues as the Neva to the Gulf of Finland.

The lake is in geologic terms very young, formed - like almost all lakes in northern Europe - through the carving activity of the inland ice sheets in the latter part of the last Ice Age. The Onega basin was formed when the glaciers withdrew some 15 000 years ago.

The largest settlement at Lake Onega is Petrozavodsk, the capital of the Republic of Karelia, situated on the western shore. The republic surrounds the lake in the west, north and east. In the south the lake borders Leningrad and Vologda Oblasts.

Waterways

Through the White Sea-Baltic Canal the Onega is connected to the White Sea, and through the Volga-Baltic Waterway to the Volga River and thereby to the Caspian Sea and the Black Sea. The Onega Canal, which follows the southern banks of the lake, was built in the 1800s as a part of the Mariinsk Canal System, a forerunner of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, to avoid the stormy waters out on Lake Onega itself.

History and culture

The area around the lake has been populated since the early Stone Age. Petroglyphs has been found along its banks.

The rich forests around Onega was the basis of a huge cellulose industry. Today, however, this represents an ecological problem for the lake.

The UNESCO World Heritage site of Kizhi Pogost lies on one of the islands in the Kizhi archipelago in the northern part of the lake. Two magnificent 18th century churches are the centerpieces of this open-air museum of Northern Russian wooden architecture. In the summer there are daily boatconnections to the island from Petrozavodsk.

Sailing is a popular activity on the lake. There is a sailing club located in Petrozavodsk. The open championship of Russia for sailing in the cruiser yacht class has the status of the International Onego Regatta in the Russian sailing community. The Regatta is held by the State committee of the Russian Federation on Physical Culture and Sports and by the Federation of Sailing of the Republic of Karelia.^[1]

Statue of fishermen on the Onega embankment, Petrozavodsk.

A wooden church on Kizhi Island, Lake Onega.

Onega at Petrozavodsk.

References