Hjälmaren ( or ), also spelled Jälmaren, is

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

's fourth largest lake. It is situated in the

Central Swedish lowland The Central Swedish lowland () is a large region of low relief and altitude in Sweden spanning from the Swedish West Coast at Bohuslän to Stockholm archipelago and Roslagen at the Baltic Sea. The Central Swedish lowland forms a broad east-west ...

and drains through

Eskilstunaån Eskilstunaån (''Eskilstuna River'') is a small river in Sweden, length 32 km, running through the city of Eskilstuna and the town of Torshälla in Södermanland County. The river drains Lake Hjälmaren into Lake Mälaren Mälaren ( , , ...

into the adjacent Lake

Mälaren Mälaren ( , , or ), historically referred to as Lake Malar in English, is the third-largest freshwater lake in Sweden (after Vänern and Vättern). Its area is and its greatest depth is 64 m (210 ft). Mälaren spans from east to west. The l ...

, which in turn drains into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, west of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

. It is connected by waterway with Stockholm by the 13 kilometres long Hjälmare kanal. It is bounded by the

provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...

Södermanland Södermanland ( ), locally Sörmland, sometimes referred to under its Latinisation of names, Latinized form Sudermannia or Sudermania, is a Provinces of Sweden, historical province (or ) on the south eastern coast of Sweden. It borders Österg� ...

Närke Närke () is a Swedish traditional province, or ''landskap'', situated in Svealand in south central Sweden. It is bordered by Västmanland to the north, Södermanland to the east, Östergötland to the southeast, Västergötland to the sou ...

, and

Västmanland Västmanland ( or ) is a historical Swedish province, or , in middle Sweden. It borders Södermanland, Närke, Värmland, Dalarna and Uppland. Västmanland means "West Man Land" or, less literally, "The Land of the Western Men", where the "we ...

. Hjälmaren is 63 kilometres long, about 20 kilometres wide, and has an average depth of 6 metres, and a surface of 483 km². The largest towns around the lake is

Örebro Örebro ( ; ) is the seventh-largest city in Sweden, the seat of Örebro Municipality, and capital of Örebro County. It is situated by the Närke Plain, near the lake Hjälmaren, a few kilometers inland along the small river Svartån, and ...

and

Eskilstuna Eskilstuna () is a Urban areas in Sweden, city and the seat of Eskilstuna Municipality, Södermanland County, Sweden. The city of Eskilstuna had 69,948 inhabitants in 2020, with a total population of 107,806 inhabitants in Eskilstuna municipality ...

situated at the western and eastern ends of the lake. Between 1878 and 1887, a damming project lowered the surface level of Hjälmaren to free up land for agriculture and to reduce the risk of flooding. Rebel Engelbrekt Engelbrektsson was assassinated in 1436 at Engelbrektsholmen, an islet in Lake Hjälmaren.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hjalmaren Norrström basin Lakes of Södermanland County Lakes of Örebro County Lakes of Västmanland County

See also

References