Lake · Estonia, Russia
Lake Peipus
Lake Peipus lies on the border between Estonia and Russia. It is the largest lake in Europe shared by two countries, and fishers catch lots of fish in its shallow water.
Picture credit: Sillerkiil (CC BY-SA 4.0) · C5eWq (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Julian Nyča (CC BY-SA 4.0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is Lake Peipus?
Countries on its shores: Estonia, Russia.
Largest lake of: Estonia.
Middle of the lake: 58.68° N, 27.48° E
The story behind it
Lake Peipus is really three lakes joined together: the big Lake Peipus in the north, Lake Pskov in the south and the narrow Warm Lake in between. It is the fifth-largest lake in Europe, and about 44 percent of it belongs to Estonia – enough to make it Estonia's biggest lake. The rest is in Russia. Although it is so big, it is only about 7 m deep on average. About 30 rivers flow in, and the Narva River carries the water to the Baltic Sea. Every winter the lake freezes, from about late November until late April. A famous battle was fought on the frozen lake in 1242, and people still call it the "Battle on the Ice". Fishers catch perch, pike-perch and smelt here. The town of Kallaste on the shore was founded by Old Believers, people who kept an old form of their Christian faith.
Find it on the globe
Lake Peipus 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.
Questions children ask
How big is Lake Peipus?
Lake Peipus covers about 3 555 km², counting all three of its parts. The northern part alone, Lake Peipus proper, is about 2 611 km².
Is Lake Peipus the largest lake in Estonia?
Yes. About 44 percent of the lake belongs to Estonia, and that part alone is bigger than any lake that lies completely inside Estonia.
Does Lake Peipus freeze in winter?
Yes, every year. The ice usually forms in late November or early December and melts in late April or early May.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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