Lake Zurich

(Local Name: Zürichsee) Cantons: Zürich (ZH), St Gallen (SG) and Schwyz (SZ)

Lake Zurich (in German Zürichsee), which was gouged out by the Linth glacier during the last Ice Age, extends for a total length of 39km/24mi in a beautiful pre-Alpine setting. With a maximum width of 4km/2mi, it has an area of 88 sq. km/34 sq. mi (Unterer See 68 sq. km/26 sq. mi, Obersee 20 sq. km/8 sq. mi) and a depth of up to 143 m/469ft. Its principal tributary, the Linth, rises in Glarus, flows through the Walensee and continues into Lake Zurich as a canal. The lake is drained at the northwest end by the Limmat which flows into the Aare. Although the lake lies in a densely populated region, with about a million inhabitants of the cantons of Zürich, St Gallen and Schwyz living on its shores, a third of its shoreline is still freely accessible.