Lake Narach

Lake Narach
Location	Minsk Province
Coordinates	54°51′09″N 26°44′59″E
Basin countries	Belarus
Max. length	12.8 km
Surface area	79.6 km²
Max. depth	24.08 m
Water volume	710 million cubic meters
Shore length1	41 km
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Narach (Belarusian: Нарач, pronounced [ˈnaratʂ]; Polish: Narocz; Lithuanian: Narutis; Russian: Нарочь) is a lake in North-West Belarus (Miadziel raion, Minsk Province). The lake is located in the northern part of the country, in the basin of the Vilija river. It is the largest lake in Belarus (before 1939 Narocz was the largest lake of Poland).

Narach is a part of the Narach lake group (the others being Miastra (Belarusian: Мястра), Batoryn (Belarusian: Баторын), Blednaje (Belarusian: Бледнае)). It was formed about 11 thousand years ago after the Pleistocene ice ages. It has a surface area of 79.6 km², a wider length of 12.8 km, a maximum depth of 24.08 m, a volume of 710 million cubic meters. The lake is surrounded with pine forests. The Narach River flows out of it.

Narach is an abode of 22 genera of fish, as the eel, pike, burbot, etc. The shore and islets are nested by different birds, as the mute swan, fish hawk, tarrock, dabchick.

History

People settled near the lake about 10 thousand years ago. Linguists think that its name comes from the Proto-Indo-European language. Archaeologists have excavated many burial mounds of the Baltic and Slavic people that lived around Narach.

Since the Middle Ages, local inhabitants lived mainly thanks to fishing and farming. In the 19th century, the most profitable work was fishing of cancers. In the 20th century, the eel became the main marketable fish.

During World War I, the surrounding area was a focal point of Lake Naroch Offensive (March–April 1916), an inconclusive offensive operation mounted by Russian forces against the German army.

In 1930s, the fishers of Narach rose against Polish authorities defending their right to exploit the lake.

Since 1950s, the lake is a popular resort and tourism site, located in the resort town of Narach. A Young Pioneer camp of national importance Zubryonok was located near the lake. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union the camp was reformed into the National children recreational camp "Zubrania", which is now the most important children recreational camp in Belarus.

In 1999, the government of Belarus organized here the Narachanski National Park.

See also

• Lake Naroch Offensive

External links

• Media related to Lake Narach at Wikimedia Commons
• Tourist guide to Narach