Lake Qaraoun

Where is Lake Qaraoun?

Countries on its shores: Lebanon.

Largest body of water of: Lebanon.

Middle of the lake: 33.57° N, 35.70° E

The story behind it

In 1959 the Qaraoun Dam, also called the Albert Naccache Dam, was finished across the Litani River. It is 61 metres high and more than one kilometre long. Behind it, the water collects in a lake of about 12 km² that can hold about 220 million cubic metres of water. The lake is very useful: its water turns turbines that make electricity, gives people drinking water and helps farmers water their fields. Each year, about 20 000 migrating birds stop here, among them storks, pelicans and birds of prey, and even rare ducks. Sadly, dirty waste water from towns flows into the river, so the lake is badly polluted. Lebanon has no natural lake of this size: apart from Lake Qaraoun there is only one lake that comes and goes with the seasons, near the village of Yammouneh, fed by springs. So the largest body of water in Lebanon is this reservoir, and it is the only lake in the country that holds water all year round.

Find it on the globe

Lake Qaraoun 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.