Lakes in Norway

There are at least 450,000 freshwater lakes in Norway. Most were created by glacial erosion.

This article is about the geography, history and culture of lakes in Norway. For a list of lakes in that country, see List of lakes in Norway.

Djupvatnet in Stranda, Møre og Romsdal
View of Jølstravatn in Jølster, Sogn og Fjordane

Types of lakes
Randsfjorden's narrow shape and glacial "overdeepening" explains why it is named a fjord, even though it is not a saltwater inlet

Various Sami and Norwegian language terms distinguish different types of lake, and often feature in place names:

  • Fjord: Although normally used to describe a saltwater inlet, in eastern Norway a long, narrow fresh water lake is also called a fjord (though this differs from the English use of the word: see fjord). Randsfjorden, mapped on the left, is the largest example of an inland fjord.
  • Sjø: Although normally used to describe a sea, Sjø is also a large fresh-water lake that is not as narrow as a fjord. Examples include Vansjø in Østfold and Selbusjø in Sør-Trøndelag.
  • Mjøs: The form mjøs is also used for larger lakes. Mjøsa itself is a large lake between the towns of Gjøvik, Lillehammer and Hamar. Other examples of the usage include Vangsmjøse in Vang, Oppland.
  • Vatn: A vatn (or vann) is a small lake. You can walk around a vatn in a couple of hours. Sognsvann near Oslo is one example of such usage. Vatn might be used for large lakes further north, such as Altevatnet in Troms and Snåsavatnet in Nord-Trøndelag.
  • Tjern: (from the old Norse tjarn and tjǫrn) is a small lake. It is also written tjenn, tjørn and tjønn. The English cognate is tarn.
  • Combinations: Østensjøvannet is an interesting variation that concatenates sjø and vann. Møsvann in Vinje, Telemark combines mjøsa with vann.
  • Jávrásj: (Lule Sami, spoken in Nordland) or Jávrrás (Northern Sami,[1] more widespread): Where the place names of the Sami people are used, these are limited to very small lakes, or ponds. None are listed here.
  • Jávrre: (Lule Sami) or jávri (Northern Sami):[1] These refer to larger lakes. The largest lake in Norway predominantly known by its Sami name is Siiddašjávri, which lies partly in Nordland but mostly in Sweden. Vuolep Sårjåsjávrre, also straddling the Nordland-Sweden border, is the largest with the Lule Sam ending -jávrre.
  • Luoppal: (North Sámi) is a narrow lake with one river running into it, one river running out from it. May be difficult to distinguish from a temporary widening of a river.

Largest lakes

Fewer than 400 of Norway's lakes have an area of more than 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi).

The following list shows the top ten lakes in Norway in terms of surface area. Dams and reservoirs with regulation height over; 15 metres are not included.[2]

No. Name County Area
(km2)
1 Mjøsa Innlandet, Viken 369.48
2 Røssvatnet Nordland 218.61
3 Femund Innlandet, Trøndelag 203.40
4 Randsfjorden Innlandet 140.69
5 Tyrifjorden Viken 138.56
6 Snåsavatnet Trøndelag 125.73
7 Tunnsjøen Trøndelag 100.18
8 Limingen Trøndelag 93.27
9 Øyeren Viken 84.74
10 Nisser Vestfold and Telemark 76.07

Deepest lakes

Europe's four deepest lakes are in Norway, namely Hornindalsvatnet, Salvatnet, Lake Tinn and Mjøsa. The following list includes the lakes in Norway, with a known depth over 200 metres.[2]

No. Name County Maximum depth
(m)		 Average depth
(m)
1 Hornindalsvatnet Vestland 514 237
2 Salvatnet Trøndelag 482* 155
3 Lake Tinn Vestfold and Telemark 460 190
4 Mjøsa Innlandet and Viken 453 150
5 Fyresvatnet Vestfold and Telemark 377 120
6 Suldalsvatnet Rogaland 376 156
7 Øvervatnet (in Fauske) Nordland 346 N/D
8 Bandak Vestfold and Telemark 325 121
9 Lundevatnet Rogaland and Agder 314 172
10 Storsjøen (in Rendalen) Innlandet 309 139
11 Totak Vestfold and Telemark 306 63
12 Tyrifjorden Viken 295 95
13 Breimsvatnet Vestland 278 129
14 Ørsdalsvatnet Rogaland 243 137
15 Røssvatnet Nordland 240 68
16 Nisser Vestfold and Telemark 234 93
17 Jølstravatnet Vestland 233 89
18 Oppstrynsvatnet Vestland 230 131
19 Tunnsjøen Trøndelag 222 88
20 Dingevatnet Vestland 220 88
21 Bygdin Innlandet 215 N/D
22 Selbusjøen Trøndelag 206 70
23 Kviteseidvatnet Vestfold and Telemark 201 93

* Sources provide both 464 m (manual method) & 482 m (echo sounding) for the greatest depth.

See also

References
  1. Sami terms for lake taken from the glossary on P.94 of Laponia World Heritage Area, ed. J.L. Battle, printed Ågrens, Örnsköldsvik, 2001, ISSN 0283-9636. Available online Archived 14 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine from the county administration of Norrbotten"Sameland in Norrbotten". Archived from the original on 14 May 2011. Retrieved 12 May 2011., accessed 3 April 2006.
  2. Taken from the Norwegian Water Resources and Energy Directorate (Norges vassdrags- og energidirektorat) lake database for Norway.
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