Lake Varsh (russian: озеро Варш) is a freshwater lake, shared by

Mezensky District Mezensky District (russian: Мезе́нский райо́н) is an administrative district (raion), one of the twenty-one in Arkhangelsk Oblast, Russia.Law #65-5-OZ As a municipal division, it is incorporated as Mezensky Municipal District.Law ...

Arkhangelsk Oblast Arkhangelsk Oblast (russian: Арха́нгельская о́бласть, ''Arkhangelskaya oblast'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal subject of Russia (an oblast). It includes the Arctic Ocean, Arctic archipelagos of Franz Josef Land ...

and the

Nenets Autonomous Okrug The Nenets Autonomous Okrug (russian: Не́нецкий автоно́мный о́круг; Nenets languages, Nenets: Ненёцие автономной ӈокрук, ''Nenjocije awtonomnoj ŋokruk'') is a federal subjects of Russia, federal su ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

, just below the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the most northerly of the five major circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth. Its southern equivalent is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circle marks the southernmost latitude at w ...

. It is one of the biggest lakes in Arkhangelsk Oblast and the biggest one in Mezensky District. The area of the lake is , and the area of its basin is . Lake Varsh is the biggest of the system of glacial lakes at the border between Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug at the western edge of the

Timan Ridge The Timan Ridge (russian: Тиманский кряж – ''Timansky Kryazh'') is a highland in the far north of European Russia. Most of the Timan Ridge is situated in the Komi Republic, but the northernmost part is in Nenets Autonomous Okrug a ...

. The system also includes Lake Pocha (which drains into Lake Varsh via the Pochviska), Lake Bormat and Lake Zhadobo (which both drain into Lake Varsh), Lake Koras and Lake Atyozero (both drain into the Varchushka) and others. The whole system of the lakes drains into the Varchushka River, a right tributary of the

Pyoza The Pyoza (russian: Пёза) is a river in Mezensky District of Arkhangelsk Oblast in Russia. It is a right tributary of the Mezen. It is long, and the area of its basin . The main tributaries of the Pyoza are the Tsema (left), Varchushka (r ...

, and thus belongs to the drainage basin of the Mezen and the basin of the

White Sea The White Sea (russian: Белое море, ''Béloye móre''; Karelian and fi, Vienanmeri, lit. Dvina Sea; yrk, Сэрако ямʼ, ''Serako yam'') is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is su ...

. The lake consists of two round bays (one on the northern side, another on the southern side) of approximately the same area, connected in the middle by a straight; the border between Arkhangelsk Oblast and the Nenets Autonomous Okrug crosses the southern bay west to east, so that the major part of the lake belongs to the Nenets Autonomous Okrug. Lake Varsh is surrounded by coniferous forest (

taiga Taiga (; rus, тайга́, p=tɐjˈɡa; relates to Mongolic and Turkic languages), generally referred to in North America as a boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruce ...

), almost all of the shore is occupied by

swamp A swamp is a forested wetland.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p. Swamps are considered to be transition zones because both land and water play a role in ...

s. The lake and immediate vicinities of the lake are not populated, The nearest settlement is the village of Safonovo on the Pyoza, several dozens kilometers south-west from the lake. Lake Varsh is popular for fishing.

References

{{reflist Varsh Bodies of water of Nenets Autonomous Okrug LVarsh