Mjøsa

Where is Mjøsa?

Countries on its shores: Norway.

Largest lake of: Norway.

Middle of the lake: 60.67° N, 11.00° E

The story behind it

Mjøsa is long and narrow, a bit like a giant river that has stopped to rest. At its deepest point the water is 453 metres deep. Because the surface lies about 123 metres above the sea, the bottom of the deepest basin is around 332 metres below sea level! Altogether the lake holds about 56 cubic kilometres of water. Its biggest river, the Gudbrandsdalslågen, flows in at the town of Lillehammer, and the water leaves through the river Vorma. The towns of Hamar and Gjøvik also lie on the shore. In summer you can ride on the Skibladner, a paddle steamer from 1856 – the oldest paddle steamer in the world that is still in service. Helgøya is the largest island in the lake. Big brown trout live in the water, and some weigh more than 20 kilograms. No other lake in Norway is as big as Mjøsa.

Find it on the globe

Mjøsa 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.