Lake Venern

The pride of the Swedes is the huge Lake Venern, which tops the long list of freshwater and salt lakes in this northern Scandinavian country. The biggest in Sweden, the freshest in the world and with the largest archipelago of islands — it's all about him.

In the northwestern part of Europe, Venus is the third largest lake after Ladoga and Lake Onega.

The length is about 150 km.
The maximum width is 81 km.
The area is as much as 5,650 km2.
The maximum depth is 106 m.
The average depth is 27 m.
The volume of water is 153 km3.

It is so large, and the landscapes around it are so flat that anyone who gets to the shore of the reservoir will feel like there is a real sea in front of him, stretching far beyond the horizon. Viking ships were found under the water column of a huge lake, for which the Venern was part of the famous "Viking Way" to the west. He is mentioned in Anglo-Saxon epics and Scandinavian sagas. The lake itself appeared long before these northern places were inhabited by people.

Ten thousand years ago, the lands on which modern Sweden is located were covered with a layer of ice. The retreating glacier in the southwest of the peninsula left behind a huge basin, which later became Lake Venern. There are countless large, small and very miniature islands scattered around the lake. In total, the local archipelago has 22 thousand hills. It is the largest group of lake islands in the world.

Above the water's edge, what could have been islands become hills. The lake is located in a picturesque hilly and wooded area, its shores are indented by small capes and bays. By the way, it is the tiny rocky bays and small peninsulas, some of which do not even have a name, that are another landscape feature of the lake. Where the land is fertile (mainly at the southern tip of the lake), agriculture is developing. The main source of income for the population living on the banks of the Venern is fishing.

30 rivers flow into the lake. They are full of water and quite clean. This is the key to another unique characteristic of the lake. In addition to being one of the largest in Europe, the lake has surprisingly fresh water. The degree of its mineralization is minimal, which is very close to distilled water.

The fresh waters of the lake are an excellent habitat for 35 species of fish. Many of them are commercial, and they are caught not only for the local market, but also for export. The cool waters of the northern lake are home to trout and two endemic species of salmon, walleye and five species of whitefish, perch and eel. Large colonies of terns, gulls, and black-throated loons nest on the shores. These birds are also not averse to eating fish. By the way, a record case was once recorded on the lake: salmon weighing 20 kg was caught.

However, the waters of the lake were not always safe for its inhabitants. In the 70s of the last century, Venus was on the verge of an ecological catastrophe. It was prevented only thanks to the high ecological culture of the Swedes and the government's adequate response to the reports of scientists.

Sweden is a country of endless forests and, of course, a large number of pulp and paper mills. Once upon a time, such a central bank made serious changes to the ecosystem of Lake Baikal and almost destroyed the deepest lake on the planet. In the middle of the 20th century, several factories were located on the banks of the Venern River, polluting the freshwater lake with toxic effluents. After birds began to leave the reservoir, environmentalists sounded the alarm, and dangerous enterprises were closed. It took nature half a century to purify the waters of the lake. Now it is successfully passing environmental tests, and the main natural test is that birds have repopulated its shores. Even the cormorant, which had not appeared on its shores for more than a hundred years, returned to the reservoir.

Since the situation on the lake has improved, it has once again become a favorite destination for national ecotourism. Of course, the shores of the Venern are not as crowded as, for example, Lake Garda in Italy, but people do not come here to have fun in the noisy company of their compatriots. The Swedish giant attracts tourists with its unspoilt beauties, quiet backwaters where you can be alone with nature. Hiking and boating are more preferable here than yachting, as on Lago Maggiore, or bike rides, as on Lake Constance. Venern is a lake for eco—friendly recreation in the highest sense of the word. In 2010, it was even included in the UNESCO list as a reserve, which is an example of an ecologically balanced environment.

About 20 islands are united in the Swedish Jura National Park (Dure), created in order to preserve the diversity of flora and fauna of the Venern. The park's area is 2.4 thousand hectares and a huge number of campsites and recreation centers could be built here, but tourists rarely set foot on these lands. The Jura is not included in the standard tour programs, it is protected from any anthropogenic interference, but especially persistent visitors can still get here on rented boats.