Lake Balaton

Lake Balaton
Lake Balaton
Location	Hungary
Coordinates	46°50′N 17°44′E / 46.833°N 17.733°ECoordinates: 46°50′N 17°44′E / 46.833°N 17.733°E
Lake 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
Residence time	2 years
Shore length1	236 km
Surface elevation	104.8 m
Settlements	Keszthely, Siófok, Balatonfüred (see list))
	1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

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Location of Lake Balaton within Hungary

Lake Balaton, in the Transdanubian region of Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe^[1], and one of its foremost tourist destinations. As Hungary is landlocked, it is often affectionately called the "Hungarian Sea". The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow.

[edit] Name

In Hungarian, the lake is known as Balaton (nicknamed Balcsi). This name derives from the South-Slavic blato, mud (from earlier Pan-Slavic boltьno), and has no meaning in Hungarian. The Romans called the lake Lacus Pelso ("Lake Pelso"). Pelso derives from a local name for the lake, perhaps from the Illyrian language, as the Illyrians once populated the region. Paleolinguists surmise that "Pelso" meant "shallow" in Illyrian; this deduction is based on a surmised Proto-Indo-European root *pels-, and on examples such as the German name Plattensee ("shallow sea"), a name given to the lake by the Germanic people in the area through the centuries.

[edit] Climate

Map of Balaton in ancient times

Lake Balaton affects the local area precipitation per annum. The area receives approximately two to three inches (5-7 cm) more precipitation than most of Hungary, resulting in more cloudy days, and less extreme temperatures. The lake's surface freezes during colder winters. The climate around Lake Balaton has also made the region ideal for viniculture. The lake, acting as a mirror, greatly increases the amount of sunlight that the grapevines of the region receive^{[citation needed]}. 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]

[edit] 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 artificial 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. (Closed since autumn 2009)

Chief resorts include:

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

[edit] Trivia

The Hungarian government has started a campaign of promoting Balaton as a holiday place for young people. There is a slightly controversial promotional cartoon on the official Balaton tourist page depicting a man who meets a young blonde girl and makes love to her on a boat while hiding his wedding ring.^[2]

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.