Lake Yojoa

Where is Lake Yojoa?

Countries on its shores: Honduras.

Largest lake of: Honduras.

Middle of the lake: 14.87° N, 87.98° W

The story behind it

Lake Yojoa lies in north-western Honduras, where three departments meet: Comayagua, Cortés and Santa Bárbara. It was formed by volcanic activity and is about 16 km long and 6 km wide. Its surface lies roughly 650 to 700 metres above the sea. Steep, forested mountains rise all around. To the west is Santa Bárbara National Park, and to the east Cerro Azul Meámbar National Park. Hundreds of kinds of birds have been seen around the lake – one source counts almost 400. People on the shore grow fruit, vegetables and coffee, and they catch and sell fish from the lake. The main road between Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula, the two biggest cities of Honduras, runs past the lake, so many travellers stop here for a meal of fresh fish. Lake Yojoa is the largest lake in Honduras and the only natural one.

Find it on the globe

Lake Yojoa 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.