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There are at least 450,000 freshwater lakes in Norway . Most were created by glacial erosion.
| | 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) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mjøsa | Innlandet, Viken | 369.48 |
| 2 | Røssvatnet | Nordland | 218.61 |
| 3 | Femund | Innlandet, Trøndelag | 203.40 |
| 4 | Randsfjorden | Innlandet | 140.69 |
| 5 | Tyrifjorden | Viken | 138.56 |
| 6 | Snåsavatnet | Trøndelag | 125.73 |
| 7 | Tunnsjøen | Trøndelag | 100.18 |
| 8 | Limingen | Trøndelag | 93.27 |
| 9 | Øyeren | Viken | 84.74 |
| 10 | Nisser | Vestfold and Telemark | 76.07 |
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 | Vestfold and Telemark | 460 | 190 |
| 4 | Mjøsa | Innlandet and Viken | 453 | 150 |
| 5 | Fyresvatnet | Vestfold and Telemark | 377 | 120 |
| 6 | Suldalsvatnet | Rogaland | 376 | 156 |
| 7 | Øvervatnet (in Fauske) | Nordland | 346 | N/D |
| 8 | Bandak | Vestfold and Telemark | 325 | 121 |
| 9 | Lundevatnet | Rogaland and Agder | 314 | 172 |
| 10 | Storsjøen (in Rendalen) | Innlandet | 309 | 139 |
| 11 | Totak | Vestfold and Telemark | 306 | 63 |
| 12 | Tyrifjorden | Viken | 295 | 95 |
| 13 | Breimsvatnet | Vestland | 278 | 129 |
| 14 | Ørsdalsvatnet | Rogaland | 243 | 137 |
| 15 | Røssvatnet | Nordland | 240 | 68 |
| 16 | Nisser | Vestfold and 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 | N/D |
| 22 | Selbusjøen | Trøndelag | 206 | 70 |
| 23 | Kviteseidvatnet | Vestfold and Telemark | 201 | 93 |
* Sources provide both 464 m (manual method) & 482 m (echo sounding) for the greatest depth.
In physical geography, a fjord or fiord is a long, narrow sea inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created by a glacier. Fjords exist on the coasts of Antarctica, British Columbia (Canada), Chile, Denmark, Germany, Greenland (Denmark), the Faroe Islands (Denmark), Montenegro, Iceland, Ireland, Kamchatka (Russia), the Kerguelen Islands (France), Newfoundland and Labrador (Canada), New Zealand, Norway, Novaya Zemlya (Russia), Nunavut (Canada), Quebec (Canada), Argentina, Russia, South Georgia Island, Tasmania (Australia), Scotland and the states of Washington, Maine, and Alaska. Norway's coastline is estimated to be 29,000 km (18,000 mi) long with its nearly 1,200 fjords, but only 2,500 km (1,600 mi) long excluding the fjords.
Nordland is a county in Norway in the Northern Norway region, the least populous of all 11 counties, bordering Troms og Finnmark in the north, Trøndelag in the south, Norrbotten County in Sweden to the east, Västerbotten County to the south-east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west. The county was formerly known as Nordlandene amt. The county administration is in the town of Bodø. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen has been administered from Nordland since 1995. In the southern part of the county is Vega, listed on the UNESCO World Heritage Site list.
Troms is a former county in northern Norway. On 1 January 2020 it was merged with the neighboring Finnmark county to create the new Troms og Finnmark county. This merger is expected to be reversed by the government resulting from the 2021 Norwegian parliamentary election.
Tysfjord is a former municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The municipality existed from 1869 until its dissolution in 2020. The municipality was part of the traditional district of Ofoten. The administrative centre of the municipality was the village of Kjøpsvik. Other villages included Drag, Hundholmen, Korsnes, Musken, Rørvika, Skarberget, and Storå.
Norway is divided into 11 administrative regions, called counties which until 1918 were known as amter. The counties form the first-level administrative divisions of Norway and are further subdivided into 356 municipalities. The island territories of Svalbard and Jan Mayen are outside the county division and ruled directly at the national level. The capital Oslo is both a county and a municipality.
Namsen (Norwegian) or Nååmesje (Southern Sami) is one of the longest rivers in Trøndelag county, in the central part of Norway. The 228-kilometre (142 mi) long river flows through the municipalities of Røyrvik, Namsskogan, Grong, Overhalla, and Namsos before emptying into the Namsenfjorden. The river is the namesake for the whole Namdalen region. The river traditionally has been used for floating timber down from the forests to the town of Namsos, where the sawmills were located. Today, parts of the Namsen are regulated by several dams.
Lule River is a major river in Sweden, rising in northern Sweden and flowing southeast for 460 km (290 mi) before reaching the Gulf of Bothnia at Luleå. It is the second longest river by watershed area or length in Norrbotten County, but is the largest by average discharge.
Mørsvikbotn or Mørsvik (Norwegian) or Murgosvuodna or Murgos (Lule Sami) is a small village located in the north part of Sørfold Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The village sits at the end of the Mørsvikfjorden arm of the Nordfolda fjord. The European route E6 highway passes through the village. The lakes Mørsvikvatnet and Sildhopvatnet are located northeast of the village. Mørsvikbotn has a school, a grocery shop called NærButiken managed by Eva Borgan also has a wee coffee shop where you can read a good book that they keep at this coffee shop inside the store. A nice place to wind down for a cuppa coffee/tea, Mørsvikbotn Chapel, an aquaculture co-op, and a few camping sites.
Lule Sámi is a Uralic, Sámi language spoken around the Lule River, Sweden, and in the northern parts of Nordland county in Norway, especially the Hamarøy municipality, where Lule Sámi is an official language. It is written in the Latin script, having an official alphabet.
The Sulitjelma Glacier is one of the largest glaciers in mainland Norway. The 24-square-kilometre (9.3 sq mi) glacier is located in mostly in Norway, but the eastern part crosses over into Sweden. The Norwegian part is in Fauske Municipality in Nordland county, about 40 kilometres (25 mi) east of the town of Fauske. The Swedish part lies on the border of Arjeplog Municipality and Jokkmokk Municipality in Norrbotten County. When the whole glacier is considered, it is the largest glacier in Sweden.
Båvrojávrre is a lake that lies on the border between Norway and Sweden. Most of the 6.08-square-kilometre (2.35 sq mi) lake lies in Norway in Narvik Municipality in Nordland county. Only 0.61 square kilometres (0.24 sq mi) of the lake lies in Sweden in Gällivare Municipality in Norrbotten County. The lake Baugevatnet lies just to the north. The ending -jávrre is the Lule Sami word for lake.
Kjelvatnet (Norwegian) or Giebbnejávrre or Giebnejávri (Lule Sami) is a lake in Fauske Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 3.85-square-kilometre (1.49 sq mi) lake lies about 7 kilometres (4.3 mi) south of the village of Sulitjelma near the border with Junkerdal National Park. Water flows into the lake from the large lake Balvatnet and it flows out of the lake to the north along the Balmi River to the lake Langvatnet.
Muorkkejávrre (Lule Sami) or Eidevatnet or Eidvatnet (Norwegian) is a lake that lies in Fauske Municipality in Nordland county, Norway. The 5.94-square-kilometre (2.29 sq mi) lake lies about 75 metres (246 ft) west of the border with Sweden and about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the village of Sulitjelma. The water from the lake flows west into the neighboring lake Låmivatnet. The ending -jávrre is the Lule Sami word for "lake".
Siiddašjávri (Northern Sami) or Sijdasjávrre (Lule Sami) or Sitasjaure (Swedish) is a lake on the border between Norway and Sweden. The lake covers an area of 71.91 square kilometres (27.76 sq mi), with 0.96 square kilometres (0.37 sq mi) of the lake in Norway and 70.95 square kilometres (27.39 sq mi) in Sweden. The name of the lake comes from the Sami languages, with the ending -jávri or -jávrre being the word for "lake".
Sisovatnet (Norwegian) or Sijdasjávrre (Lule Sami) is a lake that lies in the municipality of Sørfold in Nordland county, Norway. It is located in the southeastern part of the municipality of Sørfold, about 10 kilometres (6.2 mi) east of the village of Straumen. The lake Rundvatnet lies immediately east of Sisovatnet.
Iešjávri is a large lake on the border of the three municipalities of Alta, Kautokeino, and Karasjok in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The lake lies on the Finnmarksvidda plateau about 50 kilometres (31 mi) northwest of the village of Karasjok, about 30 kilometres (19 mi) northeast of the village of Masi, and about 45 kilometres (28 mi) southeast of the town of Alta.
The Nordland boat, is a type of fishing boat that has been used for centuries in northern counties of Nordland, Troms and Finnmark of Norway and derives its name from Nordland county where it has a long history. It has dominated the Lofoten and Vesterålen islands fishing industry for centuries and is closely related to the old Viking longships.
Nord-Trøndelag was a county constituting the northern part of the present-day Trøndelag county in Norway. It bordered the old Sør-Trøndelag county as well as the county of Nordland. To the west is the Norwegian Sea, and to the east is Jämtland in Sweden. The county was established in 1804 when the old Trondhjems amt was divided into two: Nordre Trondhjems amt and Søndre Trondhjems amt. In 2016, the two county councils voted to merge (back) into a single county on 1 January 2018.
The Daja Hydroelectric Power Station is a hydroelectric power station in the municipality of Fauske in Nordland county, Norway. It is located about 2.3 kilometers (1.4 mi) east-southeast of Jakobsbakken.
