Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva (French: Lac Léman or Lac de Genève; German: Genfersee) is the largest freshwater lake in central Europe, divided between France and Switzerland.

A great cresent shape of blue water, it is 73km long, at its widest it is 14km and its maximum depth is 310m. It covers approximately 582 km2 of total area. The volume of water is estimated at 88.9 billion m3 with a catchment area of 7,975 km2. The cresent shape is deformed around the mass of Nyon[?] on the southern shore, the lake can thus be divided into the 'Grand Lac' to the east and the 'Petit Lac' to the west.

Lake Geneva lies on the course of the Rhône River. The river has its source in the Furkapass[?] to the east of the lake and flows down through the Canton Valais, entering the lake between Villeneuve[?] and St. Gingolph, before flowing slowly towards its egress at Geneva. As well as the Rhône, the waters feed the Drance, Venoge, and Veveyse. The shore between Geneva and Lausanne is called La Côte.

Lake Geneva is the English version of its French name, Lac de Genève. The first recorded name of the lake is Lacus Lemannus from Roman times, it became Lacus Losanetes and then the Lac de Lausanne in the Middle Ages. Following the rise of Geneva it was given its current name. Certain maps name the lake the Lac d'Ouchy. A note on pronunciation: English: Lake Geneva (LAYK jë-NEE-vë), French: Lac Léman (LAHK lay-MAHNG) or Lac de Genève, German: Genfersee (GENF-ër-zay), Italian: Lago di Ginevra (LAH-go dee-jee-NAY-vrah).

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Lake Geneva is also the name of a lake in southeastern Wisconsin, and a city located on that lake, known as Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.