Taal Lake

Taal Lake
Satellite image of the lake and Volcano Island within it
Taal Lake Location within the Philippines
Location	Batangas
Coordinates	13°59′05″N 121°00′57″E / 13.98472°N 121.01583°E / 13.98472; 121.01583Coordinates: 13°59′05″N 121°00′57″E / 13.98472°N 121.01583°E / 13.98472; 121.01583
Type	Caldera lake
Primary inflows	Alulod river
Primary outflows	Pansipit River
Basin countries	Philippines
Max. length	25 km (16 mi)
Max. width	18 km (11 mi)
Surface area	234.2 km2 (90.4 sq mi)
Average depth	100 m (330 ft)
Max. depth	172 m (564 ft)
Water volume	708×10^3 m3 (25.0×10^6 cu ft)
Shore length1	115 km (71 mi)
Surface elevation	5 m (16 ft)
Islands	Bubuin Lambauing Napayon Volcano Islands
Settlements	Agoncillo Alitagtag Balete Cuenca Laurel Lipa Mataasnakahoy San Nicolas Santa Teresita Talisay Tanauan
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Taal Lake, formerly known as Bombón Lake, is a freshwater lake in the province of Batangas, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines. The lake fills Taal Caldera, a large volcanic caldera formed by very large eruptions between 500,000 and 100,000 years ago. It is the country's third largest lake after Laguna de Bay and Lake Lanao. Volcano Island, the location of Taal Volcano's historical eruptions and responsible for the lake's sulfuric content, lies near the center of the lake. There is a crater lake on Volcano Island. Known as the Yellow Lake or the Main Crater Lake, it contains its own small island, Vulcan Point. Vulcan Point was thought to be the largest third order island in the world but Treasure Island (Ontario) is much bigger and is thought to be the world largest, and is also on a freshwater lake.

The Taal Lake basin was first declared as a national park, the Taal Volcano National Park, by Proclamation No. 235 on July 22, 1967 covering 62,292 hectares (153,930 acres).

Under Republic Act 7586, otherwise known as the National Integrated Protected Areas System (NIPAS) Act of 1992, the area was reestablished as the Taal Volcano Protected Landscape by Proc. 906 on October 16, 1996. The protected area is managed by a Protected Area Management Board (PAMB) and has a Chief Operating Officer called a Protected Area Superintendent. A Management Plan was crafted and approved by the PAMB in 2009 and now serves as the blueprint for lake conservation.

Taal Lake was once an inlet of nearby Balayan Bay, and was easily navigable from it. A series of major eruptions in the early 18th century battered the lakeside towns with earthquakes and volcanic debris. The activity culminated in 1754 with Taal Volcano's largest eruption that blocked Pansipit River with tephra, blocking the lake's sole outlet to the sea. This caused the waters to rise, eventually submerging several lakeside towns – the remnants of which are reportedly visible underwater to this day. Since the 1754 eruption, the surface elevation had risen from sea level to 5 metres (16 ft) above sea level, with the lake's once saline waters becoming freshwater after centuries of precipitation.