Venetian Lagoon

Venetian Lagoon
Aerial view of the Venetian Lagoon, showing many of the islands including Venice itself, center rear, with the bridge to the mainland
Location	Venice, Veneto, Italy
Coordinates	45°24′47″N 12°17′50″E / 45.41306°N 12.29722°E / 45.41306; 12.29722Coordinates: 45°24′47″N 12°17′50″E / 45.41306°N 12.29722°E / 45.41306; 12.29722
Primary outflows	Adriatic Sea
Basin countries	Italy
Surface area	550 square kilometres (210 sq mi)
Average depth	10.5 metres (34 ft)
Max. depth	21.5 metres (71 ft)
Surface elevation	3 m (9.8 ft)
Settlements	Venice, Campagna Lupia, Cavallino-Treporti, Chioggia, Codevigo, Jesolo, Mira, Musile di Piave, Quarto d'Altino, San Donà di Piave

The Venetian Lagoon (Italian: Laguna di Venezia; Venetian: Łaguna de Venesia) is an enclosed bay of the Adriatic Sea, in northern Italy, in which the city of Venice is situated. Its name in the Italian and Venetian languages, Laguna Veneta—cognate of Latin lacus, "lake"—has provided the international name for an enclosed, shallow embayment of salt water, a lagoon.

The Venetian Lagoon stretches from the River Sile in the north to the Brenta in the south, with a surface area of around 550 square kilometres (212 square miles). It is around 8% land, including Venice itself and many smaller islands. About 11% is permanently covered by open water, or canal, as the network of dredged channels are called, while around 80% consists of mud flats, tidal shallows and salt marshes. The lagoon is the largest wetland in the Mediterranean Basin.

It is connected to the Adriatic Sea by three inlets: Lido, Malamocco and Chioggia. Sited at the end of a largely enclosed sea, the lagoon is subject to high variations in water level, the most extreme being the spring tides known as the acqua alta (Italian for "high water"), which regularly flood much of Venice.