Lake Atitlán

Lake Atitlán
Seen from the Space Shuttle. Volcán San Pedro is at the left of the image; Panajachel is the largest white patch along the upper right shore. North is to the top of the image.
Coordinates	14°42′N 91°12′W / 14.700°N 91.200°W / 14.700; -91.200Coordinates: 14°42′N 91°12′W / 14.700°N 91.200°W / 14.700; -91.200
Type	crater lake, endorheic
Basin countries	Sololá Department, Guatemala
Surface area	130.1 km2 (50.2 sq mi)
Max. depth	340 m (1,120 ft) (est.)
Water volume	m
Surface elevation	1,562 m (5,125 ft)
References

Lake Atitlán (Spanish: Lago de Atitlán, [atiˈtlan]) is a lake in the Guatemalan Highlands of the Sierra Madre mountain range. It is in the Sololá Department of southwestern Guatemala. Atitlan means "at the water" in Nahuatl.

Lake Atitlán is the deepest lake in Central America with a maximum depth of about 340 metres (1,120 ft) with an average depth of 220 metres (720 ft). Its surface area is 130.1 km² (50.2 sq mi). It is approximately 12 by 5 km with around 20 km³ of water. Atitlán is technically an endorheic lake, feeding into two nearby rivers rather than draining into the ocean. It is shaped by deep surrounding escarpments and three volcanoes on its southern flank. The lake basin is volcanic in origin, filling an enormous caldera formed by an eruption 84,000 years ago. The culture of the towns and villages surrounding Lake Atitlán is influenced by the Maya people. The lake is about 50 kilometres (31 mi) west-northwest of Antigua. It should not be confused with the smaller Lake Amatitlán.

Lake Atitlán is renowned as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world, and is Guatemala's most important national and international tourist attraction. German explorer and naturalist Alexander von Humboldt called it "the most beautiful lake in the world," and Aldous Huxley famously wrote of it in his 1934 travel book Beyond the Mexique Bay: "Lake Como, it seems to me, touches on the limit of permissibly picturesque, but Atitlán is Como with additional embellishments of several immense volcanoes. It really is too much of a good thing."