Lake Geneva

Lake Geneva, also known in Spanish as Lake Geneva (from French: Lac Léman or Lac de Genève), is the largest lake in Western Europe. It is located north of the Alps, between France (south shore) and Switzerland (north shore including the western and eastern ends).

On April 8, 1991, the shores of Lake Geneva were declared a Ramsar site (ref. no. 519) (an area of 1915 ha.)

Geography

Its shape is very elongated and curved towards the south; it measures 72 km in length and 12 km in width. It has a total area of 582 km², of which 60% (348 km²) belongs to Switzerland and the remaining 40% (234 km²) to France. The Rhône River empties into it at its eastern end, and the lake empties into the Rhône at its western end. A characteristic phenomenon of this lake is the elevation of its waters in its northern part with a decrease in the same in its southern part and then, alternating, the decrease of the waters on the northern shores and the rise on the southern ones. This curious "tide", called dranse, is due to variations in atmospheric pressure in the area where the lake is located.

Climate

The Jet d'Eau in Geneva

Although it is located between the mountains, Lake Geneva -thanks to the large amount of water it contains- creates a microclimate around it. In winter, the lake releases the heat retained during the summer and attenuates the mountain winter. In summer it cools all around.

When certain climatic conditions occur in winter, the dry air stagnant in the upper and middle atmosphere accumulates the warmer moisture that comes out of the lake and turns into a thick mist that concentrates at 200 or 300 m altitude for two to three weeks. This sea of clouds that gets bigger and bigger, ends up overflowing and invading the adjacent valleys up to a height of 800 to 1000 m.

Tourism

Some 20,000 boats sail on the lake, mainly engaged in fishing, shipping or recreation.

In addition to the important cities that surround the lake, on the Swiss coast is the Castle of Chillon (canton of Vaud), popularized by Rousseau and Lord Byron, and the famous villa Diodati. On the French side are the fortified town of Yvoire, called the Pearl of Geneva, the Excenevex beach and the Ripaille Castle.

Cities

On its shores are, among the most important, on the Swiss side, the cities of Geneva, Nyon, Lausanne (headquarters of the International Olympic Committee, Vevey (headquarters of the multinational Nestlé) and Montreux (known for its Jazz festival and where, facing the lake, there is also the statue that commemorates Freddie Mercury.) Among those on the French side, Thonon-les-Bains (spa), Yvoire (small medieval town) and Évian-les-Bains (spa and fountain of mineral water).

Bibliographic references