Lakes of Switzerland: 891 lakes, and almost one in two lies above 2,000 m

Bern has only 86 lakes, yet more large ones than any other canton. How? ↓

Half of Switzerland's 891 lakes sit higher than 1907 m, and the typical one measures 2.2 hectares, about the size of three football pitches. Lake Geneva, Lake Zurich and Lake Lucerne, the postcard lakes, are, by count, the exception: only 195 lakes lie below 600 m.

How many lakes does Switzerland have? 891 by this count

There is no single number of Swiss lakes, there is a chain. At one end, 17'873 water surfaces in swisstopo's landscape model; at the other, 58 surfaces larger than one square kilometre. Which figure you quote depends only on where you draw the line.

1. 17'873water surfaces appear in the swissTLM3D landscape model, from alpine ponds to Lake Geneva.
2. 1774of them are at least half a hectare (5,000 m²).
3. 906of these carry an official name in the swissNAMES3D gazetteer.
4. 891lakes result, because 33 lakes consist of several surfaces: Lake Constance officially of the Obersee and the Untersee, and parts with the same name no more than 50 m apart count as one lake, such as the Grimselsee.

The half-hectare line is a convention, not a law of nature. It separates a pond from a puddle. Count every named body of water and you get 1413. Keep only the big lakes and 56 remain above one square kilometre.

Lake Finder: find any lake in Switzerland

522 of Switzerland's 1413 officially named bodies of water are smaller than half a hectare, so by our count they are not lakes. The ConvivaPlus Lake Finder shows every one of the 891 lakes with area, elevation and canton. A switch also shows the other named bodies of water, 1413 in all.

Mountain lakes: 410 lakes lie above 2,000 m

Almost one in two Swiss lakes lie above 2,000 m: 410 of 891. Below 600 m, where Lake Geneva, Lake Zurich and Lake Neuchâtel lie, there are only 195.

Three cantons carry this picture: Graubünden, Valais and Ticino together hold 488 of the 891 lakes, or 55%. In Valais, 117 of 154 lakes lie above 2,000 m; in Graubünden, 167 of 236. And reservoirs are not what makes the picture: only 33 of the 410 lakes above 2,000 m have a dam, against 125 of 891 across Switzerland. The largest without a dam: Daubensee (2207 m), Gouwlisee (2140 m) and Lej da Vadret (2160 m). And there are more every decade: since 1850, almost 1,200 lakes have formed in the Swiss Alps where glaciers once lay, and almost 1,000 of them still exist (Eawag inventory 2021, its own counting method).

Lakes by size: the ten largest hold 80% of the area

Ten lakes carry 80% of Switzerland's entire lake surface. The other 881 share the rest, and 628 of them are smaller than five hectares.

174 lakes are larger than ten hectares, 56 larger than one square kilometre. For border lakes, the area is that of the whole lake, including the foreign part, so the ranking compares lakes rather than borders.

Largest lake in Switzerland: it depends on the border

The largest lake lying entirely in Switzerland is Lake Neuchâtel, at 215 km². Lake Geneva is 2.7 times as large at 580 km², but 41% of its surface lies in France.

Count only the Swiss part and Lake Geneva still comes first, with 344 km². The largest lake lying entirely within a single canton is Lake Thun, at 48 km². Lake Constance, Lago Maggiore and Ceresio are also shared with neighbouring countries. On the Obersee of Lake Constance, the three riparian states have never defined a legal border, only a technical one (in the Untersee and at Konstanz the border is set by treaty); the Swiss share follows that technical line in the official swissBOUNDARIES3D model and is a calculation, not an official area.

Lakes by canton: Grisons has 236

Graubünden has 236 lakes, more than Valais (154) and Ticino (99). Bern has only 86, but 29 of them are larger than ten hectares, more than in any other canton. The reason lies low: 15 of Bern's 29 large lakes are below 1000 m, on the Swiss Plateau and in the valleys of the Bernese Oberland. In Graubünden it is 2 of 25, in Valais 2 of 25: there the lakes lie high, and high up most of them stay small. Lakes Bern shares with its neighbours count too, such as Bielersee and Lac de Neuchâtel.

A lake counts in every canton where part of its surface lies. Touching the shore is not enough. That is why the cantonal figures add up to more than the Swiss total.

* Every lake in Solothurn, Basel-Landschaft and Geneva with area, elevation and cantonal share: right here in the table and the Lake Finder.

Basel-Stadt and Appenzell Ausserrhoden have no officially named lake of half a hectare or more. Appenzell Ausserrhoden has two tiny named waters below that size.

Highest lake in Switzerland: the Weingartensee at 3056 m

Switzerland's highest named lake is barely larger than two football pitches: the Weingartensee in Valais, 1.4 ha at 3056 m. The lowest-lying is Lago Maggiore, at 193 m.

1. 1.Weingartensee VS3056 m
2. 2.Lajets da Chalaus GR2926 m
3. 3.Gornergratsee VS2915 m
4. 4.Lej da l'Üertsch GR2909 m
5. 5.Lejs da Viluoch GR2882 m
6. 6.Furggsee VS2872 m
7. 7.Fäldbachsee VS2870 m
8. 8.Lejet da Diavolezza GR2856 m
9. 9.Lajet da Lischana GR2855 m
10. 10.Theodulgletschersee VS2851 m

2863 metres separate the highest and the lowest lake. Elevation is the water level in the landscape model; it varies with how full reservoirs are and with snowmelt in mountain lakes. This is about position, not depth: the landscape model does not record how deep a lake is.

Lake names: one lake, up to five official names

More Swiss lakes are named black than blue: 20 are called "black lake" in all four national languages, from the Schwarzsee and the Lac Noir to the Lago Nero and the Lej Nair. "Blue" appears in only 6 names. In the official swissNAMES3D gazetteer, Lake Lucerne is also Vierwaldstättersee, Lac des Quatre-Cantons, Lago dei Quattro Cantoni and Lai dals Quatter Chantuns. And although its German name refers to four cantons, its water lies in 5: LU 36%, NW 30%, UR 17%, SZ 15%, OW 2%. The answer: the four were Uri, Schwyz, Unterwalden and Lucerne, and Unterwalden is now two cantons, Obwalden and Nidwalden.

• Le Léman · Genfersee · Lago Lemano · Lai da Genevra
• Bodensee · Lac de Constance · Lago di Costanza · Lai da Constanza
• Lago Maggiore · Verbano · Lac Majeur · Langensee
• Lac de Neuchâtel · Neuenburgersee · Lago di Neuchâtel · Lai da Neuchâtel
• Vierwaldstättersee · Lac des Quatre-Cantons · Lago dei Quattro Cantoni · Lai dals Quatter Chantuns
• Zürichsee · Lac de Zurich · Lago di Zurigo · Lai da Turitg
• Ceresio · Lago di Lugano · Lac de Lugano · Lai da Lugano · Luganersee
• Thunersee · Lac de Thoune · Lago di Thun · Lai da Thun
• Bielersee · Lac de Bienne · Lago di Bienne · Lai da Bienna
• Zugersee · Lac de Zoug · Lago di Zugo · Lai da Zug
• Brienzersee · Lac de Brienz · Lago di Brienz · Lai da Brienz
• Walensee · Lac de Walenstadt · Lago di Walenstadt · Lai Rivaun
• Lac de Morat · Murtensee · Lago di Morat · Lai da Murten
• Sempachersee · Lac de Sempach · Lago di Sempach · Lai da Sempach
• Lej da Segl · Silsersee · Lac de Sils · Lago di Sils
• Lej da Silvaplauna · Silvaplanersee · Lac de Silvaplana · Lago di Silvaplana
• Lej da San Murezzan · St. Moritzersee · Lac de Saint-Moritz · Lago di Sankt Moritz

17 lakes carry four or more official names in the gazetteer. The Lake Finder searches all of them: type "Lac de Constance" and you find Lake Constance.

All lakes of Switzerland: 891 by area

Switzerland's 600 smallest lakes together have less water surface than Lake Hallwil alone: 9.90 km² against 10.2 km². Half of Switzerland's lake area lies in three lakes, 90% in 20.

Area = whole lake, including the foreign part for border lakes. Elevation = water level in the landscape model. Source: swisstopo (2026 edition), analysis by ConvivaPlus. Cross-check on whole lakes: the commissions give 580 km² (Lake Geneva, CIPEL), 212 km² (Lago Maggiore) and 48.70 km² (Ceresio, CIPAIS); the landscape model differs by at most 2%.

Written by

Marco Gisler

ConvivaPlus Editor · Data & Switzerland

Writes about Switzerland in figures – official data recalculated, counting method explained.

• Population
• 26 cantons
• Waterways
• Official data

Researched & sourced · for Switzerland

Profile & all articles →·Our editorial teamUpdated 10/25/2026