Lakes of Appenzell Innerrhoden 2026: 3, all over 10 ha
Appenzell Innerrhoden has only 3 lakes, but no small one: the Sämtisersee, Seealpsee and Fählensee all exceed ten hectares.
Number of lakes in Appenzell Innerrhoden: 3
3 lakes of half a hectare or more, and yet the national map shows 42 bodies of standing water in Appenzell Innerrhoden. The gap is not imprecision; it is a way of counting.
- 142 water surfaces appear in swisstopo's landscape model for the canton.
- 23 of them are at least half a hectare (5,000 m²).
- 35 carry an official name, however small.
- 43 are both, named and at least 0.5 ha. That is what we count as a lake.
Anyone reading a different figure has almost always drawn a different line: count every water surface and Appenzell Innerrhoden has 42; count only lakes over one square kilometre and you get none at all. Even a plain name such as "Weiher" counts as official: what decides is the entry in the swissNAMES3D gazetteer. Our count states where the line is, so it can be checked.
Lake Finder: find any lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden
Every officially named lake in Switzerland with area, elevation and canton. Filter by elevation and canton, search in all national languages.
Source: swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D (© swisstopo, 2026 edition). Area = entire water surface, including the foreign part for border lakes. Elevation = water level in the landscape model. Analysis by ConvivaPlus.
Largest lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden: Sämtisersee
The Sämtisersee is the largest lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden and lies entirely within it: 17 ha at 1207 m.
| Lake | Area | Elevation | Share in canton |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sämtisersee | 17 ha | 1207 m | 100% |
| Seealpsee | 13 ha | 1142 m | 100% |
| Fählensee | 12 ha | 1447 m | 100% |
Highest lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden: Fählensee
Even the highest lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden lies lower than 62% of Swiss lakes: the Fählensee in Schwende-Rüte at 1447 m, 12 ha.
The canton's lowest-lying lake is the Seealpsee in Schwende-Rüte at 1142 m. The canton's median lake sits at 1207 m. Elevation is the water level in the landscape model; for reservoirs it varies with how full they are.
Shared lakes: which lakes Appenzell Innerrhoden shares
Appenzell Innerrhoden shares not a single lake with a neighbour: each of its 3 lakes lies entirely within its territory.
List of lakes in Appenzell Innerrhoden
An official name does not make a lake: 2 of the 5 named bodies of water in Appenzell Innerrhoden measure less than half a hectare. The list shows all of them by area, the 3 lakes first, the smaller ones marked.
- 1.Sämtisersee · Schwende-Rüte17 ha1207 m
- 2.Seealpsee · Schwende-Rüte13 ha1142 m
- 3.Fählensee · Schwende-Rüte12 ha1447 m
- 4.Forstseeli · Schwende-Rüte, Oberriet (SG)0.38 ha1196 m
- 5.Wildseeli · Schwende-Rüte0.10 ha1903 m
Lakes by size: 3 larger than 10 ha
All 3 lakes in Appenzell Innerrhoden are larger than ten hectares, against 20% across Switzerland. By the number of lakes over 10 ha, Appenzell Innerrhoden ranks 16 of the 26 cantons.
No lake in Appenzell Innerrhoden measures less than five hectares.
In Appenzell Innerrhoden, one water surface in 14 on the national map is a lake; across Switzerland, only one in 20.
Lakes by municipality: Schwende-Rüte has the most
All 3 lakes in Appenzell Innerrhoden lie in a single municipality, Schwende-Rüte: Sämtisersee, Seealpsee, Fählensee. Counted are lakes lying entirely within the canton and in no more than two municipalities; a large lake belongs to many. The Lake Finder can search by municipality.
- Schwende-Rüte3Sämtisersee · Seealpsee · Fählensee
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❓ Frequently asked questions about the lakes of Appenzell Innerrhoden
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891 lakes of half a hectare or more, 3 of them in Appenzell Innerrhoden, number 22 among the 26 cantons by count of lakes. Grisons has the most, with 236.
Residents, taxes, rents, wages and events: Appenzell Innerrhoden in figures.
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ConvivaPlus Editor · Data & Switzerland
Writes about Switzerland in figures – official data recalculated, counting method explained.
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- 26 cantons
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Source: swisstopo (swissTLM3D, swissNAMES3D, swissBOUNDARIES3D, 2026 edition), analysis by ConvivaPlus. Switzerland as a whole: 891 lakes out of 17'873 water surfaces; parts with the same name no more than 50 m apart count as one lake. Area = water surface at the shoreline of the landscape model; reference works using a different shoreline or water level sometimes give other values.
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