Näsijärvi () 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 ...

above sea level, in the

Pirkanmaa Pirkanmaa (; ; ), 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 Southwest Finland. Most of the wate ...

region of southern

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

. Näsijärvi is the biggest lake in the

Tampere Tampere is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Pirkanmaa. It is located in the Finnish Lakeland. The population of Tampere is approximately , while the metropolitan area has a population of approximately . It is the most populous mu ...

area at in size. The city of Tampere was built along the

Tammerkoski Tammerkoski is a channel of rapids in Tampere, Finland. The city of Tampere is located between two lakes, Näsijärvi and Pyhäjärvi (Tampere region), Pyhäjärvi. The difference in altitude between these two is and the water flows from Näsij ...

rapids Rapids are sections of a river where the river bed has a relatively steep stream gradient, gradient, causing an increase in water velocity and turbulence. Flow, gradient, constriction, and obstacles are four factors that are needed for a rapid t ...

, through which the lake drains into

Pyhäjärvi Pyhäjärvi (1993–1995 ''Pyhäsalmi'') is a town and municipality in the south of Northern Ostrobothnia region, Finland. Pyhäjärvi also borders the Northern Savonia and Central Finland regions. The town belongs to the subregion of Nivala–H ...

. The water quality of the lake has improved as forest industry has decreased the amount of waste water. The lake is divided into three

fjard A fjard (, ) is a large open space of water between groups of islands or mainland in archipelagos. Fjards can be found along sea coasts, in freshwater lakes or in rivers. Fjard and fjord were originally the same word, and they generally meant sa ...

s: Näsinselkä, Koljonselkä and Vankavesi. Näsinselkä starts in the south from Tampere, where it expands to the west as Lielahti and to the east as

Aitolahti Aitolahti (; now forms the Tampere subdivision under the name Aito) is a former municipality in Pirkanmaa region, Finland. It was consolidated in 1966 with Tampere, and at the same time Tampere got new districts: Sorila, Nurmi and Aitoniemi. Un ...

. At the end of Aitolahti, it expands into a small Niihamanselkä, from which Olkahistenlahti diverges to the southeast and Merjanlahti and Laalahti to the northeast. To the north of Lielahti and Lentävänniemi is Siivikkalanlahti and behind it Ryydynpohja. Näsinselkä changes to Koljonselkä in the north after the Iso-Otava Island. In the case of the islands, a wide headland protrudes from the east towards the lake, the southern tip of which is called Paavolanniemi. To the northeast, there is the five-kilometer-long Tervalahti with its bay Uskalinlahti. On the opposite shore of Näsinselkä is Laakonselkä, a bay that is more than four kilometers long and tapering. Between Koljonselkä and Vankavesi is an

archipelago An archipelago ( ), sometimes called an island group or island chain, is a chain, cluster, or collection of islands. An archipelago may be in an ocean, a sea, or a smaller body of water. Example archipelagos include the Aegean Islands (the o ...

, to the south of which the lake is crossed by the

terminal moraine A terminal moraine, also called an end moraine, is a type of moraine that forms at the terminal (edge) of a glacier, marking its maximum advance. At this point, debris that has accumulated by plucking and abrasion, has been pushed by the front e ...

of the Inner Finland. There are boat cruising services on Näsijärvi. In 1929, the steamer SS Kuru sinking in the lake, with at least 136 people drowning including the Member of the Parliament Ida Vihuri, remains the deadliest Finnish inland shipping disaster. During the winter, usually during February and March, the lake is frozen in its entirety. Näsijärvi is then used for

Nordic walking Nordic walking is a Finland, Finnish-origin total-body version of walking that can be done both by non-athletes as a health-promoting physical activity and by athletes as a sport. The activity is performed with specially designed walking poles sim ...

, cross-country skiing, and everyday pleasure walking. There is a small, rocky island upon which a lighthouse, called , is located; it is the most popular walking destination on the lake. In the north Näsijärvi has a wide catchment area that includes among others the lakes Ruovesi, Kuorevesi, Keurusselkä, Tarjanne, Pihlajavesi, Toisvesi and Ähtärinjärvi.

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Kokemäenjoki basin Lakes of Ruovesi Lakes of Tampere Lakes of Ylöjärvi {{WesternFinland-geo-stub

See also

References

External links