This article contains a sortable table listing all major

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 ...

s of

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 ...

. The table includes all still

water bodies A body of water or waterbody (often spelled water body) is any significant accumulation of water on the surface of Earth or another planet. The term most often refers to oceans, seas, and lakes, but it includes smaller pools of water such as p ...

, natural or artificial, that have a surface area of at least , regardless of water volume, maximum depth or other metric. These lakes are ranked by area, the table including also the elevation above sea level and maximum depth. They are either natural (type N), natural but used as reservoirs (NR) or fully artificial (A). For a list of artificial lakes only, see List of dams and reservoirs in Switzerland. For a list of lakes above that includes smaller water bodies, see

List of mountain lakes of Switzerland This is a list of high-altitude lakes in Switzerland. It includes all significant lakes, natural or artificial, with an area over 4 hectares and a height over 800 metres above sea level. This height approximately corresponds to the transiti ...

. Along with the mountains, lakes constitute a major natural feature of Switzerland, with over of shores within the country.Approximately (see

coastline paradox The coastline paradox is the counterintuitive observation that the coastline of a landmass does not have a well-defined length. This results from the fractal curve-like properties of coastlines; i.e., the fact that a coastline typically has a fr ...

) counting only the 17 lakes over (length retrieved from the

Google Earth Google Earth is a computer program that renders a 3D computer graphics, 3D representation of Earth based primarily on satellite imagery. The program maps the Earth by superimposition, superimposing satellite images, aerial photography, and geog ...

geographical information program). Lakes, large and small, can be found in almost all cantons and provide an important source of water as well as leisure opportunities. The two most extensive,

Lake Geneva , image = Lake Geneva by Sentinel-2.jpg , caption = Satellite image , image_bathymetry = , caption_bathymetry = , location = Switzerland, France , coords = , lake_type = Glacial lak ...

and

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

, are amongst the largest in Europe and mark the border of the

Swiss Plateau The Swiss Plateau or Central Plateau (german: Schweizer Mittelland; french: plateau suisse; it, altopiano svizzero) is one of the three major landscapes in Switzerland, lying between the Jura Mountains and the Swiss Alps. It covers about 30% of ...

, along with the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, Sw ...

and the

Jura Mountains The Jura Mountains ( , , , ; french: Massif du Jura; german: Juragebirge; it, Massiccio del Giura, rm, Montagnas da Jura) are a sub-alpine mountain range a short distance north of the Western Alps and mainly demarcate a long part of the Frenc ...

. The largest wholly Swiss lake is

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 ...

. The remaining lakes over are

Lake Maggiore Lake Maggiore (, ; it, Lago Maggiore ; lmo, label=Western Lombard, Lagh Maggior; pms, Lagh Magior; literally 'Greater Lake') or Verbano (; la, Lacus Verbanus) is a large lake located on the south side of the Alps. It is the second largest la ...

and

Lake Lucerne __NOTOC__ Lake Lucerne (german: Vierwaldstättersee, literally "Lake of the four forested settlements" (in English usually translated as ''forest cantons''), french: lac des Quatre-Cantons, it, lago dei Quattro Cantoni) is a lake in central ...

. In total 103 lakes exist that are more than in surface area, and a considerable number of smaller lakes. All these lakes are found in the four major

river basin A drainage basin is an area of land where all flowing surface water converges to a single point, such as a river mouth, or flows into another body of water, such as a lake or ocean. A basin is separated from adjacent basins by a perimeter, the ...

s of Switzerland:

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

, Rhone, Po and

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

,The remaining basin (the

Adige The Adige (; german: Etsch ; vec, Àdexe ; rm, Adisch ; lld, Adesc; la, Athesis; grc, Ἄθεσις, Áthesis, or , ''Átagis'') is the second-longest river in Italy, after the Po. It rises near the Reschen Pass in the Vinschgau in the pro ...

) being marginal and comporting only small lakes (of which the largest is

Lai da Rims Lai da Rims (German: Rimsersee) is a lake in Val Müstair, Grisons, Switzerland.snow line.

Distribution

There are several thousand lakes in Switzerland, with estimations up to 7000, although those include very small water bodies, traditionally referred to as "lakes".For example, the

Blausee Blausee (literally: ''Blue Lake'') is a lake in Bernese Oberland, Kandergrund, Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institution ...

("blue lake"), the

Märjelensee Märjelensee is a lake in the canton of Valais, Switzerland. It formed on the eastern side of the Aletsch Glacier The Aletsch Glacier (german: Aletschgletscher, ) or Great Aletsch Glacier () is the largest glacier in the Alps. It has a length of ...

("Märjelen lake"), and the

Schwarzsee Schwarzsee () or Lac Noir (; en, "Black Lake"; rarely ; frp, Lèc d'Omène ), is a small lake in the Canton of Fribourg, Switzerland with an area of . The lake in the Swiss Prealps is bordered by the peaks of Schwyberg (1,628 m) in the West ...

("black lake") are smaller than one hectare in surface area. On this list, only the 103 largest lakes, which are over 30 hectares in area, are included. Among these, 58 are over 1.0 km², 17 are over 10 km², and just five are over 100 km² in area. Of these lakes, 37 are natural, 21 are natural, but are used as reservoirs, and 45 are manmade reservoirs. These 103 lakes are shared among 21

cantons A canton is a type of administrative division of a country. In general, cantons are relatively small in terms of area and population when compared with other administrative divisions such as counties, departments, or provinces. Internationally, t ...

, out of the 26.The cantons of

Appenzell Ausserrhoden Appenzell Ausserrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Outer Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Ausserrhoden; rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadora; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Extérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Esterno) is one of the 26 canton ...

, Appenzell Innerrhoden,

Basel-Stadt Basel-Stadt or Basel-City (german: Kanton ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Citad; french: Canton de Bâle-Ville; it, Canton Basilea Città) is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of three municipalities with Basel as t ...

Basel-Landschaft Basel-Landschaft or Basel-Country informally known as Baselland or Baselbiet (; german: Kanton Basel-Landschaft ; rm, Chantun Basilea-Champagna; french: Canton de Bâle-Campagne; it, Canton Basilea Campagna), is one of the 26 cantons forming ...

, and Solothun do not appear in this list. Some of these lakes are also shared with neighboring France, Germany, Austria, and Italy (for simplicity purposes, only the total area of the lake is indicated). Four of the cantons (

Grisons The Grisons () or Graubünden,Names include: *german: (Kanton) Graubünden ; * Romansh: ** rm, label= Sursilvan, (Cantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Vallader, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label= Puter, (Chantun) Grischun ** rm, label=Surmiran, (Cant ...

Berne german: Berner(in)french: Bernois(e) it, bernese , neighboring_municipalities = Bremgarten bei Bern, Frauenkappelen, Ittigen, Kirchlindach, Köniz, Mühleberg, Muri bei Bern, Neuenegg, Ostermundigen, Wohlen bei Bern, Zollikofen , website ...

Valais Valais ( , , ; frp, Valês; german: Wallis ), more formally the Canton of Valais,; german: Kanton Wallis; in other official Swiss languages outside Valais: it, (Canton) Vallese ; rm, (Chantun) Vallais. is one of the cantons of Switzerland, 26 ...

, and

Ticino Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...

) have more than 10 of the lakes, apiece, and just over one-half of the cantons (14) have one or more lakes of over 100 km² in area. Most of these lakes are either below 800 metres above sea level (mostly natural lakes), or above 1600 metres (mostly manmade lakes). A large majority of the lakes, 66, are located in the

basin (partly via the Aare River); 17 in the Rhone basin (partly via the

Doubs River The Doubs (; frp, Dubs; german: Dub) is a river in far eastern France which strays into western Switzerland. It is a left-bank tributary of the Saône. It rises near Mouthe in the western Jura mountains, at and its mouth is at Verdun-sur-l ...

); 14 in the Po River basin (mostly via the

Ticino River The river Ticino ( , ; lmo, Tesín; French and german: Tessin; la, Ticīnus) is the most important perennial left-bank tributary of the Po. It has given its name to the Swiss canton through which its upper portion flows. It is one of the four ...

); and six are in the

River basin (all via the Inn River).

Main list

* Types: N = natural; NR = natural but used as reservoirs; A = fully artificial

Notes

References

External links

*
Lakes, MySwitzerland.com
{{Portal bar, Geography, Switzerland

Lakes 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 larger ...

pl:Szwajcaria#Jeziora

Distribution

Main list

See also

Notes

References

External links