Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton
Location	Hungary
Coordinates	46°50′N 17°44′E / 46.833°N 17.733°E
Type	Rift lake
Primary inflows	Zala River
Primary outflows	Sió
Catchment area	5,181 km²
Basin countries	Hungary
Max. length	77 km
Max. width	14 km
Surface area	592 km²
Average depth	3.2 m
Max. depth	12.2 m
Water volume	1.9 km³
Shore length1	236 km
Surface elevation	104.8 m
Settlements	see article
	1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Balaton, located in Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe. Since Hungary is landlocked, Lake Balaton is sometimes called the "Hungarian Sea". The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow. It has also been referred to as "Europe's biggest puddle". This harsh, but accurate description of the body of water is based on the shallowness of its waters.

With a surface area of 592 km², Lake Balaton lies approximately on the coordinates 46°50′N 17°44′E / 46.833°N 17.733°E / 46.833; 17.733, and has a length of 77 km and a width ranging from 4 to 14 km. The lake's surface is 104 m above sea level, and its depth varies up to 12.2 m (mean depth is 3.2 m).

Name

In Hungarian, the lake is known as Balaton (nicknamed Balcsi); in Latin as Lacus Pelso, in German as Plattensee, in Slovak as Blatenské jazero and in Serbian as Blatno Jezero or Блатно Језеро.

Its name means approximately "muddy lake" in Slavic ("blato" means "mud" in South-Slavic from earlier Pan-Slavic "bolto"). The Hungarian name Balaton, is also derived from the original Slavic name (Slavic neutrum adjective "boltьno(-je ezero)" = "muddy (lake)"), but it has no concrete meaning today in Hungarian.

The Romans called the lake Lacus Pelso, that is to say shallow lake in the Latin language. Germanic peoples that have been living in the area through the centuries called it Plattensee, with the same meaning as in Latin.

Climate

Lake Balaton affects the local area precipitation. The area receives approximately two-three [or more] inches more (5 - 7 cm more) precipitation. More cloudy days, less extreme temperatures, and more precipitation than most of Hungary are all because of Lake Balaton. The lake's surface freezes during colder winters.

The Lake Balaton region's climate has also made it ideal for growing grapes to make wine. Secondary radiation is emitted from the lake doubling the amount of sunlight that the grapes vines of the region receive. The Mediterranean climate combined with the soil (containing volcanic rock) has made the region notable for its production of wines since the Roman period two thousand years ago.[1]

Tourist information

The major resorts around the lake are Siófok, Keszthely and Balatonfüred. Siófok is known often as the "Party Capital of Hungary", which attracts many young party goers in summer due to its numerous large discos. Keszthely is the site of the famous Festetics Palace and Balatonfüred is a historical bathing town home to the annual Anna Ball.

The high tourist season extends from June until the end of August. The average water temperature during the summer is 25° C, which makes bathing and swimming possible. Most of the beaches consist of either grass, rocks or the silty sand that also makes up most of the bottom of the lake. Many resorts have artifical sandy beaches and all beaches have step access to the water. Other tourist attractions include sailing, fishing and other water sports, as well as visiting the countryside and hills; wineries on the north coast and night life on the south shore. The Tihany Peninsula is an historical district. Badacsony is a famous volcanic mountain and wine growing region as well as a lakeside resort.

Although the peak season at the lake is the summer, lovers of Balaton think that it is also worth visiting the lake in winter, when you can go fishing through ice-holes, or, if the ice is thick enough, brave visitors can even skate, sledge or ice-sail on the lake.

Balaton is served by Sármellék International Airport [2]. There are scheduled flights from Berlin, Stuttgart, Copenhagen, Zürich and London Stansted. The lake is also accessible via charter flights from Frankfurt, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Billund and Moscow.

Chief resorts include:

Badacsony - Balatonalmádi - Balatonboglár - Balatonfüred - Balatonlelle - Fonyód - Keszthely - Siófok - Tihany - Vonyarcvashegy

Towns and villages

North shore

From east to west:

Balatonfőkajár - Balatonakarattya - Balatonkenese - Balatonfűzfő - Balatonalmádi - Alsóörs - Paloznak - Csopak - Arács - Balatonfüred - Tihany - Aszófő - Örvényes - Balatonudvari - Fövenyes - Balatonakali - Zánka - Balatonszepezd - Szepezdfürdő - Révfülöp - Pálköve - Ábrahámhegy - Balatonrendes - Badacsonytomaj - Badacsony - Badacsonytördemic - Szigliget - Balatonederics - Balatongyörök - Vonyarcvashegy - Gyenesdiás - Keszthely

South shore

From east to west:

Balatonakarattya - Balatonaliga - Balatonvilágos - Sóstó - Szabadifürdo - Siófok - Széplak - Zamárdi - Szántód - Balatonföldvár - Balatonszárszó - Balatonszemes - Balatonlelle - Balatonboglár - Fonyód - Bélatelep - Balatonfenyves - Balatonmáriafürdő - Balatonkeresztúr - Balatonberény - Fenékpuszta

History and Trivia

Operation Frühlingserwachen was conducted in the region of Lake Balaton in March 1945, being referred to as "the Lake Balaton Offensive" in many British histories of the Second World War. The battle was a German counterattack by Sepp Dietrich's 6.SS-Panzerarmee between March 6, 1945 and March 16, 1945 and resulted in a Red Army victory.