Vanajavesi is a large lake in southern

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

, in the provinces of

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; sv, Birkaland; la, Birkaria, link=no), also known as ''Tampere Region'' in government documents, is a region of Finland. It borders the regions of Satakunta, South Ostrobothnia, Central Finland, Päijät-Häme, Kanta-Häme and Sou ...

and

Kanta-Häme Kanta-Häme (), sometimes referred to by the obsolete Tavastia Proper ( sv, Egentliga Tavastland) or as the Häme region, is a region ( / ) of Finland. It borders the regions of Southwest Finland, Pirkanmaa, Päijät-Häme, and Uusimaa. Hämeenli ...

. It is part of the

Kokemäenjoki The Kokemäenjoki ("Kokemäki River", sv, Kumo älv) is a river in southwestern Finland. Geography The river originates at Lake Liekovesi in the Pirkanmaa region, and flows to the Gulf of Bothnia at Pori in the Satakunta region. Primary tribu ...

basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of

Tavastia Proper Tavastia or Tavastland may refer to: * Häme (Swedish: ''Tavastland'', Latin: ''Tavastia'') * Tavastia (historical province), a historical province of the kingdom of Sweden, located in modern-day Finland * Tavastia (constituency), formerly Tavasti ...

and parts of the Päijänne Tavastia region.Vanajavesi in the Jarviwiki Web Service
Retrieved 2014-03-02.

Settlements

The biggest city by the lake is

Hämeenlinna Hämeenlinna (; sv, Tavastehus; krl, Hämienlinna; la, Tavastum or ''Croneburgum'') is a city and municipality of about inhabitants in the heart of the historical province of Tavastia and the modern province of Kanta-Häme in the south of F ...

in the Tavastia Proper region. Other cities and towns include

Valkeakoski Valkeakoski (; lit. "white rapids") is a town and municipality in Finland. It is located south of Tampere, north of Hämeenlinna and north of Helsinki in the Pirkanmaa region. The municipality has a population of () and covers an area of of wh ...

and

Akaa Akaa ( sv, Ackas) is a town and a municipality in Pirkanmaa, Finland. It was created on January 1, 2007 when the town of Toijala and the municipality of Viiala were united into a single town. The municipality of Kylmäkoski was consolidated with ...

(formerly

Toijala Toijala is a former town and municipality of Finland, located some south of Tampere. On 1 January 2007, it was consolidated with Viiala to form the town of Akaa. Toijala is known as an important railway crossroads. The Helsinki–Tampere and Tur ...

) in the Pirkanmaa region. In addition to these, the municipalities by the lake include

Lempäälä Lempäälä (; Swedish also ) is a municipality in the Pirkanmaa region of Finland with inhabitants (). Lempäälä is located south of the city of Tampere. The municipality covers an area of of which is water. The population density is . Th ...

in the Pirkanmaa region and

Hattula Hattula is a municipality of Finland. It is part of the Tavastia Proper region and until 2010 it was located in the province of Southern Finland. Hattula is almost completely surrounded by Hämeenlinna, only in the north it shares the border with ...

and

Janakkala Janakkala () is a municipality of Finland. Its administrative centre is in Turenki, which is often erroneously shown on maps as being "Janakkala". Janakkala is located along the Highway 3 ( E12) in the province of Southern Finland and is part of th ...

in the Tavastia Proper region.

Watercourses

The lake is connected to

Mallasvesi Mallasvesi is a medium-sized lake in Finland. The lake is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin and it is located for municipalities of Pälkäne and Valkeakoski in the Pirkanmaa region. It is a part of a chain of lakes that begins from the lakes Lummene ...

in the north, which itself is the joining point of two chains of lakes; The ''Längelmävesi route'' in the northeast, consisting of the lakes

Längelmävesi Längelmävesi () is a lake in southwestern Finland. The lake is located mostly in the Pirkanmaa region at an elevation of . Längelmävesi is within the municipalities of Jämsä (formerly Längelmäki), Kangasala (formerly Sahalahti), Kuhmalah ...

Vesijärvi Vesijärvi is a lake of near Lahti in southern Finland. It suffered severe effects of eutrophication in the 1960s and a restoration programme began in the 1970s. The Enonselkä Basin is a part of Vesijärvi. The name of the lake means ''Th ...

, Roine, and

Pälkänevesi Pälkänevesi is a lake in Finland. The lake is located in the municipality of Pälkäne in the Pirkanmaa region. The lake is part of Kokemäenjoki basin and a chain of lakes that consists of Längelmävesi, Vesijärvi, Roine, Pälkänevesi and ...

. The other chain, the ''

Hauho Hauho is a former municipality of Finland. It was situated in the province of Southern Finland and is today a part of the region of Tavastia Proper (Kanta-Häme / Egentliga Tavastland). Hauho was amalgamated with the municipality of Hämeenlinna ...

route'', drains from the southeast and consists of the lakes

Lummene Lummene (also Lummenne) is a lake in Finland in the municipality of Kuhmoinen in the Central Finland region. The lake is a bifurcation lake. One outflow from it is eastwards into the lake Päijänne, which is a part of Kymijoki basin and dra ...

Vehkajärvi Vehkajärvi is a medium-sized lake in Finland. It is located at the border of Pirkanmaa, Päijänne Tavastia and Central Finland regions in the Finnish Lakeland and there mostly in the municipality of Kangasala, and for lesser parts in the muni ...

Vesijako Vesijako (also Vesijakaa) is a lake in Finland. It is situated in Padasjoki in the region of Päijänne Tavastia.Kuohijärvi Kuohijärvi is a lake in Finland. It is part of a chain of lakes that begins from the lakes Lummene and Vesijako at the drainage divide between the Kokemäenjoki and Kymijoki basins, flows westwards from there and drains into lake Mallasvesi thro ...

Kukkia Kukkia is a medium-sized lake in Finland. It is a part of a chain of lakes that begins from the lakes Lummene, Vehkajärvi and Vesijako at the drainage divide between the Kokemäenjoki and Kymijoki basins and flows westwards from there through th ...

Iso-Roine Iso-Roine (also Iso Roinevesi) is medium-sized lake in the Kokemäenjoki main catchment area in the Tavastia Proper region in Finland. The lake is located in the area of the city of Hämeenlinna. It is part of a chain of lakes that begins from th ...

, Vesanselkä and

Ilmoilanselkä Ilmoilanselkä is a lake in Finland. It is part of a chain of lakes that begins from the lakes Lummene and Vesijako at the drainage divide between the Kokemäenjoki and Kymijoki basins, flows westwards from there through the lakes Kuohijärvi, ...

. A third chain of lakes and rivers drain into Vanajavesi from the south, originating in Pääjärvi in the east and

Loppijärvi Loppijärvi is a medium-sized lake in Finland. It is situated in the municipality of Loppi in the Tavastia Proper region. The lake is part of Kokemäki River basin and it drains through Tervajoki River into Lake Kernaalanjärvi which in its turn ...

in the west. This third chain is referred to as the ''Vanajavesi route''. Several lakes drain into Vanajavesi from the southeast, such as Rutajärvi. Vanajavesi itself drains into lake Pyhäjärvi through the Kuokkolankoski rapids, which are situated in

, to the north.

National landscape

Vanajavesi and its surroundings are the central area of the historical province of Tavastia in Finland. It has been declared as one of the

National landscapes of Finland National landscapes of Finland were selected by the Finnish Ministry of the Environment in 1992 as a part of the 75th anniversary of the Independence of Finland. The 27 selected landscapes represent the special environmental and cultural features o ...

as defined by the Finnish ministry of environment in 1992.

References

Kokemäenjoki basin Akaa Landforms of Pirkanmaa Landforms of Kanta-Häme Lakes of Valkeakoski Lakes of Janakkala Lakes of Hämeenlinna {{Finland-geo-stub

Settlements

Watercourses

National landscape

See also

References