__NOTOC__ Lake Bienne or Lake Biel (french: Lac de Bienne ; german: Bielersee) is a

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

in western

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. Together with

Lake Morat Lake Morat or Lake Murten (french: Lac de Morat ; german: Murtensee) is a lake located in the cantons of Fribourg and Vaud in the west of Switzerland. It is named after the small bilingual town of Murten/Morat on its southern shore. It is the s ...

and

Lake Neuchâtel Lake Neuchâtel (french: Lac de Neuchâtel ; frp, Lèc de Nôchâtél; german: Neuenburgersee) is a lake primarily in Romandy, in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by t ...

, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies approximately at the language boundary between German and French speaking areas.

Geography

The lake is 15 km long and up to 4.1 km wide. Its surface area is 39.3 km², the maximum depth 74 m. The lake is located at 429 metres above sea level. Lake Biel/Bienne has a catchment area of about 8,305 km². Water remains in the lake for an average of 58 days. The rivers

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is a tributary of the High Rhine and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to its junction with the Rhine comprises about , during which distance it descend ...

and

Zihl The river Thielle (french: La Thielle, or La Thièle, german: Zihl), is a tributary to the Aare, in the Swiss Seeland. The Thielle results from the merging of the Orbe and Talent, northeast of the little city of Orbe in the Swiss canton of Vaud ...

Thielle The river Thielle (french: La Thielle, or La Thièle, german: Zihl), is a tributary to the Aare, in the Swiss Seeland. The Thielle results from the merging of the Orbe and Talent, northeast of the little city of Orbe in the Swiss canton of Vaud ...

flowing from Lake Neuchâtel, the Twannbach draining water down from the surplombing first Jura mountain range and the Suze draining water down from the Vallon de St. Imier, are the main tributaries. The

was redirected into the lake in 1878, in order to prevent the flooding of the nearby area called "Seeland", and drains the water out of the lake down to Büren through a simultaneously man-made channel. The level of all three lakes is being controlled by a dam built across the channel, in

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Ham ...

. The largest settlement along the shores of Lake Biel are the

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolingual speakers in the world's population. More than half of all E ...

city of

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; , ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town and a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the Biel/Bienne (administrative district), Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Swi ...

and its sister city

Nidau Nidau is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Nidau is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Nidowe''. In 1352, it was recorded in Latin as ''Nydow''. The remains of a number of sti ...

, both located on the northern end. The St. Peter's Island attracts tourists. The island is located near Erlach/Cerlier.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects of the French Revolu ...

once spent a few months on the island. One of the main business in the area is the watch and affiliated microtechnic industries. World famous watch brands have their sites and headquarters in the area, including the

Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 by the merger of ASUAG and SSIH to move to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the traditional Sw ...

and

Rolex Rolex SA () is a British-founded Swiss watch designer and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by Hans Wilsdorf and Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex'' as the brand name of ...

movements manufacture. The lake's surface is the lowest point of the canton of Neuchâtel.

Towns and villages by the lake

As the lake is located on the border of the French and German language regions, most places have names in both languages, though not all versions are still in use. *Alfermée *Bipschal - Bévesier * Erlach - Cerlier *Gaicht - Jugy *

Gerolfingen Gerolfingen is a municipality in the district of Ansbach in Bavaria in Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and ...

Hagneck Hagneck is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Archeological discoveries Traces of early and late Bronze Age settlements have been found in the Hagneck marshland, which is part of ...

*Im Rusel *

Ipsach Ipsach is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Ipsach is first mentioned around 1265-66 as ''Ipzacho''. The area around Ipsach was often settled during the neolithic, Bronze Age ...

Le Landeron Le Landeron is a municipality in the Swiss canton of Neuchâtel. History Le Landeron is first mentioned about 1209 as ''Landiron''. Prehistory The first traces of human habitation near Le Landeron were the remains of a pottery workshop (961-957 ...

(

canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (french: République et Canton de Neuchâtel); rm, Chantun Neuchâtel; it, Cantone di Neuchâtel is a French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (o ...

) - Landern *

Ligerz Ligerz (french: Gléresse) is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Ligerz is first mentioned in 1236 as ''Ligerce''. The shore of Lake Biel was inhabited during the neolithic ...

- Gléresse *

Lüscherz Lüscherz is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Lüscherz is first mentioned in 1271 as ''Luschiers'', however the area has been settled since at least the Neolithic (ca. 3700 ...

- Locras *

Mörigen Mörigen is a municipality in the Biel/Bienne administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Mörigen is first mentioned in 1196 as ''Moringen''. Prehistoric settlements During the Bronze Age the lake shore near modern ...

- Morenges *Neuenstadt -

La Neuveville La Neuveville (; german: Neuenstadt) is a municipality in the Jura bernois administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland, located in the French-speaking Bernese Jura (''Jura Bernois''). History La Neuveville is first mentioned ...

* Sankt-Petersinsel *Schafis - Chavanne *Schernelz - Cernaux *Sutz-Lattrigen *

Täuffelen Täuffelen is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Täuffelen is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Choufalli''. In 1280 it was mentioned as ''Tofallie''. The lake shore was inhabited ...

- Choufaille * Tüscherz - Daucher *

Twann Twann (french: Douanne ) was a municipality in the district of Nidau in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. On 1 January 2010 the municipalities of Tüscherz-Alfermée and Twann merged into the municipality of Twann-Tüscherz. History Twann is f ...

- Douanne *

Vinelz Vinelz is a municipality in the Seeland administrative district in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. History Vinelz is first mentioned in 1228 as ''Fenis''. The municipality was formerly known by its French name ''Fenil'', however, that nam ...

- Fénil *Vingelz - Vigneules *Wingreis - Vingras

External links

*
Waterlevels of Lake Bienne
at

Tourism Biel/Bienne Seeland
* Lac de Bienne (Nidau)

{{Authority control

Biel , french: Biennois(e) , neighboring_municipalities= Brügg, Ipsach, Leubringen/Magglingen (''Evilard/Macolin''), Nidau, Orpund, Orvin, Pieterlen, Port, Safnern, Tüscherz-Alfermée, Vauffelin , twintowns = Iserlohn (Germany) B ...

LBiel Bern–Neuchâtel border