Lac de la Plate Taille

Where is Lac de la Plate Taille?

Countries on its shores: Belgium.

Largest body of water of: Belgium.

Middle of the lake: 50.18° N, 4.37° E

The story behind it

Belgium has only a few natural lakes, and none of them is very big. So its largest single lake, the Lac de la Plate Taille, was made by people. In the 1970s workers built five dams south of the city of Charleroi, close to the border with France, and the valleys filled with water. That is how the Lacs de l'Eau d'Heure were born. Together the five lakes cover about 6.17 km², and Plate Taille alone about 3.74 km². Belgium has no natural lake of this size; the largest body of water is this reservoir. The Plate Taille Dam was finished in 1977 and is called the most important dam in Belgium. Water can be pumped up into the lake and later let down again through turbines to make electricity, a bit like a giant battery. An observation tower stands on the dam. Today people come to sail, windsurf, fish, kayak and dive.

Find it on the globe

Lac de la Plate Taille 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.