Lake Onega

Lake Onega
Lake Onega is located in Karelia
Lake Onega
Lake Onega
Coordinates61°41′26″N 35°39′20″E / 61.69056°N 35.65556°E / 61.69056; 35.65556
Primary inflows58 rivers (Shuya, Suna, Vodla, Vytegra, Andoma)
Primary outflowsSvir
Basin countriesRussia
Max. length245 km (152 mi)
Max. width91.6 km (56.9 mi)
Surface area9,891 km2 (3,819 sq mi)
Average depth30 m (98 ft)
Max. depth127 m (417 ft)
Water volume291 km3 (70 cu mi)
Surface elevation33 m (108 ft)
Islands1,369 (Kizhi Island)
SettlementsKondopoga, Medvezhyegorsk, Petrozavodsk, Pindushi, Povenets
Map

Lake Onega (/ˈnɛɡə/; also known as Onego; Russian: Оне́жское о́зеро, romanizedOnezhskoe ozero, IPA: [ɐˈnʲɛʂskəɪ ˈozʲɪrə]; Finnish: Ääninen, Äänisjärvi; Livvi: Oniegujärvi; Veps: Änine, Änižjärv) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic Sea, and is the second-largest lake in Europe after Lake Ladoga, slightly smaller than Lebanon. The lake is fed by about 50 rivers and is drained by the Svir.

There are about 1,650 islands on the lake. They include Kizhi, which hosts a historical complex of 89 Orthodox churches and other wooden structures of the 15th–20th centuries. The complex includes a UNESCO World Heritage Site, Kizhi Pogost. The eastern shores of the lake contain about 1,200 petroglyphs (rock engravings) dated to the 4th–2nd millennia BC, which have also been inscribed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The major cities on the lake are Petrozavodsk, Kondopoga and Medvezhyegorsk.