Lake Shkodër | |
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Lake Skadar / Lake Scutari | |
Location | Albania–Montenegro border |
Coordinates | 42°10′N 19°19′E / 42.167°N 19.317°ECoordinates: 42°10′N 19°19′E / 42.167°N 19.317°E |
Primary inflows | Morača |
Primary outflows | Buna |
Basin countries | Albania, Montenegro |
Max. length | 44 km (27 mi) |
Max. width | 14 km (8.7 mi) |
Surface area | 370–530 km2 (140–200 sq mi) |
Average depth | 5.01 m (16.4 ft) |
Max. depth | 8.3 m (27 ft) 44 m (144 ft) |
Water volume | 1,931.62×10 6 m3 (68.215×10 9 cu ft) |
Shore length1 | 207 km (129 mi) is total length of coastline (including islands). |
Surface elevation | 6 m (20 ft) |
References | |
Designated | 2 February 2006 |
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. |
Lake Skadar National Park | |
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IUCN category IV (habitat/species management area)
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Lake Skadar and surrounding area
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Location | Albania, Montenegro |
Area | 400 km2 (150 sq mi; 40,000 ha) |
Established | 1983 |
Lake Shkodër (Montenegrin and Serbian: Скадарско језеро, Skadarsko jezero, pronounced [skâdarskɔː jɛ̂zɛrɔ]; Albanian: Liqeni i Shkodrës, pronounced [liˈcɛni i ˈʃkɔdrəs]) — also called Lake Scutari, Lake Skadar and Lake Shkodra — lies on the border of Albania and Montenegro, the largest lake in the Southern Europe. It is named after the city of Shkodër in northern Albania (Albanian: Shkodër or Shkodra, Serbian: Скадар, Skadar, Italian: Scutari). It is a karst lake.
Lake Skadar is the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula with a surface area that seasonally fluctuates between 370 km2 (140 sq mi) to 530 km2 (200 sq mi). Lake Skadar itself is located on the western Balkan with approximately two-third (229 km2 (88 sq mi)) of its surface belonging to Montenegro and about one-third (142 km2 (55 sq mi)) to Albania. The lake’s water level also varies seasonally from 4.7 to 9.8 m above sea level. The lake extends in the NW-SE direction, and it is approximately 44 km long.
The Bojana River connects the lake with the Adriatic Sea, and the Drin River provides a link with the Ohrid Lake. The lake is a cryptodepression, filled by the river Morača and drained into the Adriatic by the 41 km (25 mi) long Bojana (Albanian: Buna), which forms the international border on the lower half of its length. The largest inflow is from the Morača, which provides about 62% of the lake’s water. Total drainage area is 5490 km2.