Lake Onega (also known as
Onego, ,
Onezhskoe ozero, i.e.,
Onezhskoe lake;
Finnish/Karelian:
Ääninen or
Äänisjärvi) is a
lake in
Russia.
Geography
Lake Onega has a surface area of 9,894 km², a volume of 280 km³ and a maximum depth of 120 m. It is the second largest lake in
Europe, and the
18th largest lake by area in the world. It has 1,369 islands with a total area of 250 km².
The
catchment area of 51 540 km² drains into the lake via 58 rivers, including the
Shuya,
Suna,
Vodla,
Vytegra, and
Andoma. The
Svir, which marks the southern boundary of
Karelia, runs from the southwestern shore of Lake Onega to
Lake Ladoga and continues as the
Neva to the
Gulf of Finland.
The lake is in
geologic terms very young, formed - like almost all lakes in northern Europe - through the carving activity of the inland ice sheets in the latter part of the last
Ice Age. The Onega basin was formed when the glaciers withdrew some 15 000 years ago.
The largest settlement at Lake Onega is
Petrozavodsk, the capital of the
Republic of Karelia, situated on the western shore. The republic surrounds the lake in the west, north and east. In the south the lake borders
Leningrad and
Vologda Oblasts.
Waterways
Through the
White Sea-Baltic Canal the Onega is connected to the
White Sea, and through the
Volga-Baltic Waterway to the
Volga River and thereby to the
Caspian Sea and the
Black Sea. The
Onega Canal, which follows the southern banks of the lake, was built in the 1800s as a part of the
Mariinsk Canal System, a forerunner of the Volga-Baltic Waterway, to avoid the stormy waters out on Lake Onega itself.
History and culture
The area around the lake has been populated since the early
Stone Age.
Petroglyphs has been found along its banks.
The rich forests around Onega was the basis of a huge
cellulose industry. Today, however, this represents an ecological problem for the lake.
The
UNESCO World Heritage site of
Kizhi Pogost lies on one of the islands in the Kizhi archipelago in the northern part of the lake. Two magnificent 18th century churches are the centerpieces of this open-air museum of Northern Russian wooden architecture. In the summer there are daily boatconnections to the island from Petrozavodsk.
Sailing is a popular activity on the lake. There is a sailing club located in Petrozavodsk. The open championship of Russia for sailing in the cruiser yacht class has the status of the International Onego Regatta in the Russian sailing community. The Regatta is held by the State committee of the Russian Federation on Physical Culture and Sports and by the Federation of Sailing of the Republic of Karelia.
Image:Petroz fishers.jpg|Statue of fishermen on the Onega embankment, Petrozavodsk.
Image:Wooden Miracle Kizhi.jpg|A wooden church on Kizhi Island, Lake Onega.
Image:Onego2.jpg|Onega at Petrozavodsk.
