Jølstravatnet or Jølstravatn is a
lake
A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...
in
Sunnfjord Municipality
Sunnfjord is a municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Sunnfjord. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Førde. Other villages in the municipality include Naustdal, Sande, ...
in
Vestland
Vestland is a Counties of Norway, county in Norway. The county is located in Western Norway, and its administrative centre is Bergen, where the executive and political leadership is based. The County governor (Norway), County Governor is based in ...
county,
Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
. The lake empties its water into the long
Jølstra river which then flows into the
Førdefjorden. The impressive eastern arm of Jølstravatn is called ''Kjøsnesfjorden'', although it is not a true
fjord
In physical geography, a fjord (also spelled fiord in New Zealand English; ) is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, the Arctic, and surrounding landmasses of the n ...
that is part of the sea. The villages of
Skei,
Helgheim
Helgheim is a village in Sunnfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. The village is located on the northern shore of the lake Jølstravatnet, about west of the municipal centre of Skei. The village lies along the European route E39
...
,
Ã…lhus, and
Vassenden
Vassenden is a village in Sunnfjord Municipality in Vestland county, Norway. It is located along the river Jølstra on the western shore of the lake Jølstravatnet, and about north of the lake Holsavatnet.
The village has a population (2019 ...
are located on the shores of the lake.
The lake is located at an elevation of above sea level, and the deepest point in the lake is below the water level. The lake is about long and about wide. Jølstravatn is a very good fishing lake.
The
European route E39
European route E39 is the designation of a north–south road in Norway and Denmark from Klett, just south of Trondheim (city), Trondheim, to Aalborg via Bergen, Stavanger and Kristiansand. In total, there are nine ferries, more than any other ...
highway runs along the entire northern shore of the lake. The
Norwegian National Road 5 runs along the eastern shore of the lake. The
Norwegian County Road 451 runs along the entire southern shore of the lake. There is one bridge that crosses over the lake; on the eastern part of the lake. The bridge is part of County Road 451 and it crosses over the Kjøsnesfjorden arm from the village of Sandvika to Kjøsnes.
Media gallery
File:Førdefjord.png, Location of Førdefjorden and Jølstravatn
File:Jolstravatn.jpg, Jølstravatnet
File:From north coast of Jølstravatnet towards west, 2008 08.JPG, Looking west from the northern shore of the lake
See also
*
List of lakes in Norway
This is a list of lakes and reservoirs in Norway, sorted by Counties of Norway, county.
For the geography and history of lakes in that country, see Lakes in Norway, including:
*Lakes in Norway#Largest lakes, List of largest lakes in Norway
*L ...
References
Lakes of Vestland
Sunnfjord
{{Vestland-lake-stub