__NOTOC__ Lake Biel or Lake Bienne (; ) is a

lake A lake is often a naturally occurring, relatively large and fixed body of water on or near the Earth's surface. It is localized in a basin or interconnected basins surrounded by dry land. Lakes lie completely on land and are separate from ...

in western

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

. Together with Lake Morat and

Lake Neuchâtel Lake Neuchâtel ( ; ; ) is a lake primarily in Romandy, the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The lake lies mainly in the canton of Neuchâtel, but is also shared by the cantons of Vaud, Fribourg, and Bern. It comprises one of the lakes in th ...

, it is one of the three large lakes in the Jura region of Switzerland. It lies on the language boundary between German and French speaking areas.

Geography

The lake is 15 km long and up to 4.1 km wide. Its surface area is 39.3 km², the maximum depth 74 m. The lake is located at 429 metres above sea level. Lake Biel/Bienne has a catchment area of about 8,305 km². Water remains in the lake for an average of 58 days. The rivers

Aare The Aare () or Aar () is the main tributary of the High Rhine (its discharge even exceeds that of the latter at their confluence) and the longest river that both rises and ends entirely within Switzerland. Its total length from its source to i ...

and Zihl/

Thielle The river Thielle (, ), is a tributary to the Aare, in the Swiss Seeland. The Thielle results from the merging of the Orbe and Talent, northeast of the little city of Orbe in the Swiss canton of Vaud. It flows as a channel northeastwards thro ...

flowing from Lake Neuchâtel, the Twannbach draining water down from the surplombing first Jura mountain range and the Suze draining water down from the Vallon de St. Imier, are the main tributaries. The

was redirected into the lake in 1878, in order to prevent the flooding of the nearby area called "Seeland", and drains the water out of the lake down to Büren through a simultaneously man-made channel. The level of all three lakes is being controlled by a dam built across the channel, in

Port A port is a maritime facility comprising one or more wharves or loading areas, where ships load and discharge cargo and passengers. Although usually situated on a sea coast or estuary, ports can also be found far inland, such as Hamburg, Manch ...

. The lake contains the Île de St Pierre, where

Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Genevan philosopher ('' philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment throughout Europe, as well as aspects ...

resided for a short time in 1765. Many traces of lake-dwellings have been discovered on the shores of the lake. Today, the largest settlement along the shores of Lake Biel are the

bilingual Multilingualism is the use of more than one language, either by an individual speaker or by a group of speakers. When the languages are just two, it is usually called bilingualism. It is believed that multilingual speakers outnumber monolin ...

city of

Biel/Bienne Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

and its sister city Nidau, both located on the northern end. The St. Peter's Island attracts tourists. The island is located near Erlach/Cerlier.

Jean-Jacques Rousseau Jean-Jacques Rousseau (, ; ; 28 June 1712 – 2 July 1778) was a Republic of Geneva, Genevan philosopher (''philosophes, philosophe''), writer, and composer. His political philosophy influenced the progress of the Age of Enlightenment through ...

once spent a few months on the island. One of the main business in the area is the watch and affiliated microtechnic industries. World famous watch brands have their sites and headquarters in the area, including the

Swatch Group The Swatch Group Ltd is a Swiss manufacturer of watches and jewellery. The company was founded in 1983 through the merger of ASUAG and SSIH, moving to manufacturing quartz-crystal watches to resolve the quartz crisis threatening the tradition ...

and

Rolex Rolex () is a Swiss watch brand and manufacturer based in Geneva, Switzerland. Founded in 1905 as ''Wilsdorf and Davis'' by German businessman Hans Wilsdorf and his eventual brother-in-law Alfred Davis in London, the company registered ''Rolex ...

movements manufacture. The lake's surface is the lowest point of the canton of Neuchâtel.

Towns and villages by the lake

As the lake is located on the border of the French and German language regions, most places have names in both languages, though not all versions are still in use. *Alfermée *Bipschal - Bévesier * Erlach - Cerlier *Gaicht - Jugy *Gerolfingen * Hagneck *Im Rusel * Ipsach * Le Landeron (

canton of Neuchâtel The Republic and Canton of Neuchâtel (; ; ; ) is a mostly French-speaking canton in western Switzerland. In 2007, its population was 169,782, of whom 39,654 (or 23.4%) were foreigners. The capital is Neuchâtel. History County of Neuchâtel ...

) - Landern * Ligerz - Gléresse * Lüscherz - Locras * Mörigen - Morenges *Neuenstadt - La Neuveville * Nidau * Sankt-Petersinsel *Schafis - Chavanne *Schernelz - Cernaux *Sutz-Lattrigen * Täuffelen - Choufaille * Tüscherz - Daucher * Twann - Douanne * Vinelz - Fénil *Vingelz - Vigneules *Wingreis - Vingras

References

External links

*
Waterlevels of Lake Bienne
at Ligerz
Tourism Biel/Bienne Seeland
{{Authority control

Biel Biel/Bienne (official bilingual wording; German language, German: ''Biel'' ; French language, French: ''Bienne'' ; Bernese German, locally ; ; ; ) is a bilingual city in the canton of Bern in Switzerland. With over 55,000 residents, it is the ...

LBiel Bern–Neuchâtel border