General Carrera Lake

Where is General Carrera Lake?

Countries on its shores: Chile, Argentina.

Largest lake of: Chile.

Middle of the lake: 46.44° S, 71.70° W

The story behind it

This lake lies in the far south of South America, at the edge of the Andes. It is about 130 km long and very deep: in one place the water goes down 586 metres, so the bottom lies about 350 metres below sea level! About 970 km² of the lake belong to Chile and about 880 km² to Argentina. It is the largest lake in Chile and the fourth-largest in Argentina. The Aonikenk people called it Chelenko, which means 'stormy waters'. On the north-western shore, near Puerto Río Tranquilo, waves have carved the Marble Caves out of the rock over the last 6 200 years. The lake has its own sunny weather, and anglers come to catch trout and salmon. Its water flows out through the Baker River to the Pacific Ocean.

Find it on the globe

General Carrera Lake is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.