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This page contains a sortable table listing all major lakes of Switzerland. The table includes all still water bodies, natural of artificial, that have a surface area of at least 0.30 square kilometres (0.12 sq mi), regardless of water volume, maximum depth or other merit. These lakes are ranked by area, the table including also the elevation above sea level and maximum depth. They are either natural (type N), natural but used as reservoirs (NR) or fully artificial (A). For a list of artificial lakes only, see List of dams and reservoirs in Switzerland. For a list of lakes above 800 metres that includes smaller water bodies, see List of mountain lakes of Switzerland.
Along with the mountains, lakes constitute a major natural feature of Switzerland, with over 1000 km of shores within the country. Lakes, large and small, can be found in almost all cantons and provide an important source of water as well as leisure opportunities. The two most extensive, Lake Geneva and Lake Constance, are amongst the largest in Europe and mark the border of the Swiss Plateau, along with the Alps and the Jura Mountains. The largest wholly Swiss lake is Lake Neuchâtel. Next in size comes Lake Maggiore, followed by Lake Lucerne and Lake Zurich. In total 103 lakes exist that are more than 30 hectares in surface area, and a considerable number of smaller lakes. All these lakes are found in the four major river basins of Switzerland: Rhine, Rhone, Po and Danube, at almost all elevations below the snow line.
Distribution
There are several thousand lakes in Switzerland, with estimations up to 7000, although those include very small water bodies, traditionally referred to as "lakes". On this list, only the 103 largest, which are over 30 hectares wide, are considered. Among them, 58 are over 1 km2, 17 are over 10 km2 and 5 are over 100 km2. 37 of these lakes are natural, 21 are natural but used as reservoirs and 45 are fully artificial. These 103 lakes are shared between 21 cantons. Four cantons (Grisons, Berne, Valais and Ticino) have more than 10 of them and just more than half of the cantons (14) have lakes over 100 km2. Most of the lakes are either below 800 metres above sea level (predominantly natural lakes) or above 1600 metres (predominantly artificial lakes). A large majority of the lakes (66) are located in the Rhine basin (partly through the Aare), 17 being in the Rhone basin (partly through the Doubs), 14 in the Po basin (mostly through the Ticino) and 6 in the Danube basin (all through the Inn).