Ladoga, Lake (lä`dōgə, Rus. lä`dəgə), Finnish Laatokka, Rus. Ladozhskoye Ozero, c.7,000 sq mi (18,100 sq km), NW European Russia, in Karelia, NE of St. Petersburg. The largest lake in Europe, it is c.130 mi (210 km) long and c.80 mi (130 km) wide and has a maximum depth of 738 ft (225 m). Located on the heavily glaciated Baltic Shield, the lake has shores that are low and marshy in the south, rocky and indented in the north. It is subject to autumn storms and freezes every year for two months in the north and four months in the south. Chief among the many rivers that feed the lake are the Svir, descending from Lake Onega; the Vuoska, which forms the outlet of the Saimaa lake system of Finland; and the Volkhov, coming from Lake Ilmen. The main outlet is the Neva, which flows W into the Gulf of Finland at St. Petersburg. The fortress at Petrokrepost commands the Neva's exit from the lake. Among the many islands in the northern part of the lake is Valaam (Finnish Valama or Valamo), with a famous Russian monastery dating from the 12th cent. or earlier. Until the Finnish-Russian War Finnish-Russian War, 1939–40, war between Finland and the Soviet Union. After World War II broke out in Sept., 1939, the USSR, never on cordial terms with Finland, took advantage of its nonaggression pact (Aug.
..... Click the link for more information. of 1939–40, the northern part of the lake belonged to Finland; cession of the Finnish shore to the USSR was confirmed by the peace treaty of 1947. During the defense of St. Petersburg (then Leningrad) against the Germans in World War II, the frozen Lake Ladoga was the lifeline by which Leningrad was supplied in the winters from 1941 to 1943. Because of the difficulties of navigation, the southern shore of Lake Ladoga is paralleled by the

Ladoga Canals, c.100 mi (160 km) long, connecting the Svir and Neva rivers and forming part of the Mariinsk System (see Volga-Baltic Waterway Volga-Baltic Waterway, canal and river system, c.685 mi (1,100 km) long, N European Russia. It links the Volga River and the St. Petersburg industrial area. It consists of the Moscow-Volga Canal, the Volga River, the Rybinsk Reservoir , the Mariinsk system (composed
..... Click the link for more information. ) and the Baltic–White Sea Canal System.

Ladoga, Lake

Lake, northwestern Russia. The largest lake in Europe, it covers an area of 6,700 sq mi (17,600 sq km). It is 136 mi (219 km) long and has an average width of 51 mi (82 km); its greatest depth is 754 ft (230 m). It contains 660 islands of more than 2.5 acres (1 hectare) in area. Its outlet is the Neva River, in the southwestern corner. Formerly divided between the U.S.S.R. and Finland, it now lies entirely within Russia. During the Siege of Leningrad (1941–44) in World War II, the lake was the lifeline that connected the city with the rest of the Soviet Union.