Druzno Lake | |
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Drużno Lake
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Location | Northern Poland |
Coordinates | 54°4′N 19°27′E / 54.067°N 19.450°ECoordinates: 54°4′N 19°27′E / 54.067°N 19.450°E |
Catchment area | 1,084 km2 (419 sq mi) |
Basin countries | Poland |
Surface area | 13–29 km2 (5.0–11.2 sq mi) |
Average depth | 1.2 m (3.9 ft) |
Max. depth | 3 m (9.8 ft) |
Drużno (Polish: Jezioro Druzno; German: Drausensee, Lithuanian: Drūsuo) is a body of water historically considered a lake in northern Poland on the east side of the Vistula delta, near the city of Elbląg. As it is currently not deep enough to qualify as a lake hydrologically and receives some periodic inflow of sea water from the Vistula Lagoon along the Elbląg River, some suggest that it be termed an estuary reservoir. A village of recent origin also called Drużno is situated near the lake.
The German name Draussensee, in earlier records called Drusensee, is connected to the ancient trade city of Truso, which stood within the lands now occupied by Elbląg. The lake is greatly reduced from its original size partly due to large building expansion of housing in the last few decades, but mainly because of the natural death of the lake by sedimentation. The lake is the site of a nature reserve, one of the 13 sites in Poland protected under the Ramsar convention.
The central coordinates of the lake are 54°4′N 19°27′E / 54.067°N 19.450°E. It lies to the east of the Nogat, the main right branch of the lower Vistula, at the edge of the lowland of the delta (Żuławy Wiślane), which is a region of shifting sediments and channels partly controlled by dikes, dams and ditches. The lake is about 181 square kilometres (70 sq mi) in area and sometimes up to 1.8 metres (5.9 ft) below sea level. The delta ends at Elbląg upland (Wysoczyzna Elbląska), much of which is wooded. The delta itself is sparsely populated, despite the presence of large cities nearby (Gdańsk, Elblag and others). Most of it is rich agricultural land and the rest is a wildlife habitat of great natural beauty.