This article needs additional citations for verification. (May 2011) |
There are at least 450,000 freshwater lakes in Norway. Most were created by glacial erosion.
Various Sami and Norwegian language terms distinguish different types of lake, and often feature in place names:
Fewer than 400 of Norway's lakes have an area of more than 5 square kilometres (1.9 sq mi).
The following list shows the top ten lakes in Norway in terms of surface area. Dams and reservoirs with regulation height over; 15 metres are not included.[2]
No. | Name | County | Area (km2) |
Volume (km3) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Mjøsa | Innlandet and Akershus | 369.48 | 56.24 |
2 | Røssvatnet | Nordland | 218.61 | 14.80 |
3 | Femund | Innlandet and Trøndelag | 203.40 | 6.04 |
4 | Randsfjorden | Innlandet | 140.69 | 6.61 |
5 | Tyrifjorden | Buskerud | 138.56 | 13.13 |
6 | Snåsavatnet | Trøndelag | 125.73 | 5.78 |
7 | Tunnsjøen | Trøndelag | 100.18 | 8.82 |
8 | Limingen | Trøndelag | 93.27 | 8.11 |
9 | Øyeren | Akershus and Østfold | 84.74 | 1.19 |
10 | Nisser | Telemark | 76.07 | 7.07 |
Europe's four deepest lakes are in Norway, namely Hornindalsvatnet, Salvatnet, Lake Tinn and Mjøsa. The following list includes the lakes in Norway, with a known depth over 200 metres.[2]
No. | Name | County | Maximum depth (m) |
Average depth (m) |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Hornindalsvatnet | Vestland | 514 | 237 |
2 | Salvatnet | Trøndelag | 482* | 155 |
3 | Lake Tinn | Telemark | 460 | 190 |
4 | Mjøsa | Innlandet and Akershus | 453 | 150 |
5 | Fyresvatnet | Telemark | 377 | 120 |
6 | Suldalsvatnet | Rogaland | 376 | 156 |
7 | Øvervatnet (in Fauske) | Nordland | 346 | N/D |
8 | Bandak | Telemark | 325 | 121 |
9 | Lundevatnet | Rogaland and Agder | 314 | 172 |
10 | Storsjøen (in Rendalen) | Innlandet | 309 | 139 |
11 | Totak | Telemark | 306 | 63 |
12 | Tyrifjorden | Buskerud | 295 | 95 |
13 | Breimsvatnet | Vestland | 278 | 129 |
14 | Ørsdalsvatnet | Rogaland | 243 | 137 |
15 | Røssvatnet | Nordland | 240 | 68 |
16 | Nisser | Telemark | 234 | 93 |
17 | Jølstravatnet | Vestland | 233 | 89 |
18 | Oppstrynsvatnet | Vestland | 230 | 131 |
19 | Tunnsjøen | Trøndelag | 222 | 88 |
20 | Dingevatnet | Vestland | 220 | 88 |
21 | Bygdin | Innlandet | 215 | 52 |
22 | Selbusjøen | Trøndelag | 206 | 70 |
23 | Kviteseidvatnet | Telemark | 201 | 93 |
* Sources provide both 464 m (manual method) & 482 m (echo sounding) for the greatest depth.