Lake Peipus is the largest trans-boundary lake in

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

, lying on the international border between

Estonia Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia, is a country in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the Baltic Sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, and to the east by Ru ...

and

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. The lake is the fifth-largest in Europe after

Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake located entirely in Europe, the second largest lake in Russia after Lake ...

and

Lake Onega Lake Onega (; also known as Onego; , ; ; Livvi-Karelian language, Livvi: ''Oniegujärvi''; ) is a lake in northwestern Russia, on the territory of the Republic of Karelia, Leningrad Oblast and Vologda Oblast. It belongs to the basin of the Baltic ...

(in Russia), Lake Vänern (in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

), and Lake Saimaa (in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

). It covers , and it has an average depth of , the deepest point being .Чудско-Псковское озеро

Great Soviet Encyclopedia The ''Great Soviet Encyclopedia'' (GSE; , ''BSE'') is one of the largest Russian-language encyclopedias, published in the Soviet Union from 1926 to 1990. After 2002, the encyclopedia's data was partially included into the later ''Great Russian Enc ...

Russian lakes with area of more than 350 km²
(GIF table). Retrieved on 2012-01-21. The lake has several islands and consists of three parts: *Lake Peipus / Chudskoye (, ), the northern part of the lake, with an area of (73%) *Lake Pihkva / Pskovskoye (, ), the southern part of the lake (area or 20%) *Lake Lämmi / Tyoploye (, ), the sound connecting the other two parts of the lake (area or 7%) The lake is used for fishing and recreation, but suffered from

environmental degradation Environment most often refers to: __NOTOC__ * Natural environment, referring respectively to all living and non-living things occurring naturally and the physical and biological factors along with their chemical interactions that affect an organism ...

from

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

-era agriculture. Some 30 rivers and streams discharge into Lake Peipus, the two largest of which are the Velikaya and Emajõgi. The lake drains into the

Gulf of Finland The Gulf of Finland (; ; ; ) is the easternmost arm of the Baltic Sea. It extends between Finland to the north and Estonia to the south, to Saint Petersburg—the second largest city of Russia—to the east, where the river Neva drains into it. ...

via the

Narva Narva is a municipality and city in Estonia. It is located in the Ida-Viru County, at the Extreme points of Estonia, eastern extreme point of Estonia, on the west bank of the Narva (river), Narva river which forms the Estonia–Russia border, E ...

River. On 5 April 1242, the frozen lake was the site of the

Battle on the Ice The Battle on the Ice, also known as the Battle of Lake Peipus, took place on 5 April 1242. It was fought on the frozen Lake Peipus when the united forces of the Novgorod Republic, Republic of Novgorod and Vladimir-Suzdal, led by Prince Alexande ...

(also known as the Battle of Lake Peipus) between the armies of the

Novgorod Republic The Novgorod Republic () was a medieval state that existed from the 12th to 15th centuries in northern Russia, stretching from the Gulf of Finland in the west to the northern Ural Mountains in the east. Its capital was the city of Novgorod. The ...

and the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

Name

The origin of the name ''Peipus'' () is uncertain, although it may be paralleled by Lake Peipiä () and the village of Peipiä () along its shore, and by Peipozero () near

Onega Bay The Onega Bay () is located in the Republic of Karelia and Arkhangelsk Oblast in Northwestern Russia, west of the city of Arkhangelsk. It is the southernmost of four large bays and gulfs of the White Sea, the others being the Dvina Bay, the Mez ...

. Paul Ariste suggested a pre-Finnic origin of the name, Julius Mägiste suggested a connection with ''peipo'' or ''peippu'' 'chaffinch' (or other songbird) or Votic ''põippõ'' 'chicken', suggested derivation from a personal name, and suggested a Baltic etymology, comparing it to Latvian ''piepe'' and Lithuanian ''pepis'' 'moisture, mold'. The Russian name ''Chudskoye ozero'' (Чудское озеро) means 'Chud Lake' (i.e., 'Estonian Lake'); the ethnonym '' Chud'' () referred to various Finnic peoples in what is now Estonia, Karelia, and northwestern Russia.

Formation

The lake is a remnant of a larger body of water that existed in this area during a former

ice age An ice age is a long period of reduction in the temperature of Earth's surface and atmosphere, resulting in the presence or expansion of continental and polar ice sheets and alpine glaciers. Earth's climate alternates between ice ages, and g ...

.''Encyclopedic Dictionary of Geography'': Geographical names – Moscow: Soviet Encyclopedia. 1983, p. 488. In the

Paleozoic The Paleozoic ( , , ; or Palaeozoic) Era is the first of three Era (geology), geological eras of the Phanerozoic Eon. Beginning 538.8 million years ago (Ma), it succeeds the Neoproterozoic (the last era of the Proterozoic Eon) and ends 251.9 Ma a ...

Era, 300 to 400 million years ago, the entire territory of the modern Gulf of Finland was covered by a sea. Its modern relief was formed as a result of

glacier A glacier (; or ) is a persistent body of dense ice, a form of rock, that is constantly moving downhill under its own weight. A glacier forms where the accumulation of snow exceeds its ablation over many years, often centuries. It acquires ...

activities, the last of which, the Weichselian glaciation, ended about 12,000 years ago.

Topography and hydrography

The banks of Lake Peipus have smooth contours and form only one large bay: Raskopelsky Bay. On the northern and northwestern shores of the lake there are sand dunes covered with pine forest and sandy beaches. Along the sandy shores, there is a wide stretch of shallow waters.Tourist Encyclopedia. Peipsi-Pskov Lake
Outdoors.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. The low shores of the lake mostly consist of peat and are bordered by vast lowland and

marsh In ecology, a marsh is a wetland that is dominated by herbaceous plants rather than by woody plants.Keddy, P.A. 2010. Wetland Ecology: Principles and Conservation (2nd edition). Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK. 497 p More in genera ...

es, which are flooded in the spring, with the flooding area reaching up to .Sokolov AA
Hydrography of the USSR
' L.: Gidrometeoizdat, 1952

The relief of the bottom is uniform and flat, gradually rising near the shores and covered with

silt Silt is granular material of a size between sand and clay and composed mostly of broken grains of quartz. Silt may occur as a soil (often mixed with sand or clay) or as sediment mixed in suspension (chemistry), suspension with water. Silt usually ...

, and in some places with sand. The deepest point of is located in the Teploe Lake, from the coast.lakes and rivers south of Estonia, the islands
The lake is well-flowing, with the annual inflow of water equal to about half of the total water volume. The lake water is fresh, with a low transparency of about due to

plankton Plankton are the diverse collection of organisms that drift in Hydrosphere, water (or atmosphere, air) but are unable to actively propel themselves against ocean current, currents (or wind). The individual organisms constituting plankton are ca ...

and suspended

sediment Sediment is a solid material that is transported to a new location where it is deposited. It occurs naturally and, through the processes of weathering and erosion, is broken down and subsequently sediment transport, transported by the action of ...

s caused by the river flow. Water currents are weak ; generally induced by wind, so stop when it ceases. However, during the spring flood, there is a constant surface current from north to south.study the situation of the ports on the Narva River
. Arhiv.ivangorod.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. Because of the shallow depth, the lake quickly warms and cools. Water temperature reaches in July. The lakes freeze in late November – early December and thaw in late April – early May, first lakes Teploe and Pihkva and then lake Peipus. However, due to recent climatic changes, Lake Peipus has now commonly started to freeze later into December and thaw much earlier in April.

Gallery

File:Lake Peipus, Estonia.jpg, Shoreline, south of Mustvee in Estonia File:Peipus Kallaste 3.JPG, Kallaste File:LakePeipus01.JPG, Mustvee harbour File:Пообережье Чудского озера под Гдовом (8).jpg, Shoreline in Russia, near Gdov File:Lüübnitsa küla.JPG, Lake Pihkva/Pskovskoye, Estonian shoreline Narva basin map

Basin and islands

About 30 rivers flow into the lake.By Peipus pond
. Zachetka.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. The largest are Velikaya and Emajõgi; smaller rivers include Zadubka, Cherma, Gdovka, Kuna, Torokhovka, Remda, Rovya, Zhelcha, Chernaya, Lipenka, Startseva, Borovka, Abija, Obdeh, Piusa, Võhandu, Kodza, Kargaya, Omedu, Tagajõgi and Alajõgi. The lake is drained by only one river, the

, into the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. The lake contains 29 islands, with a total area of 25.8 km², with 40 more islands located within the delta of the Velikaya River. The islands are low wetlands, elevated above the lake surface on average by only (maximum ) and therefore suffer from floods. The largest islands are Kolpina (area 11 km²) in the south, Piirissaar (area in the center, and Kamenka (area 6 km²). In the center of Pihkva Lake there is a group of Talabski Islands (Talabsk, Talabenets and Verkhniy).

Flora and fauna

The lake hosts 54 species of coastal aquatic flora, including

cane Cane or caning may refer to: *Walking stick, or walking cane, a device used primarily to aid walking * Assistive cane, a walking stick used as a mobility aid for better balance * White cane, a mobility or safety device used by blind or visually i ...

, calamus (''Acorus calamus''), bulrush, grass rush, lesser bulrush (''Typha angustifolia'') and water parsnip (''Sium latifolium''). Floating plants are rare and are of only three types:

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, or sometimes for special purposes such as signaling. ...

, yellow water-lily and water knotweed.Fish and Lake Pskov region. Lakes
Pskovfish.ru. Retrieved on 19 February 2017. The lake is home to perch, pike-perch,

bream Bream (, ) are species of freshwater fish belonging to a variety of genera including '' Abramis'' (e.g., ''A. brama'', the common bream), '' Ballerus'', '' Blicca'', '' Brama'', '' Chilotilapia'', '' Etelis'', '' Lepomis'', '' Gymnocranius'', ...

, roaches, whitefishes, smelt and other species of fish. The wetlands of the coastal strip of the lake are important resting and feeding grounds for swans, geese and ducks migrating between the

White Sea The White Sea (; Karelian language, Karelian and ; ) is a southern inlet of the Barents Sea located on the northwest coast of Russia. It is surrounded by Karelia to the west, the Kola Peninsula to the north, and the Kanin Peninsula to the nort ...

and

and western Europe.Tourist portal
Svali.ru (2008-01-28). Retrieved on 2012-01-21. Lake Peipus is one of the main stopovers for

Bewick's swan The tundra swan (''Cygnus columbianus'') is a small swan of the Holarctic. The two taxa within it are usually regarded as conspecific, but are also sometimes split into two species: Bewick's swan (''Cygnus bewickii'') of the Palaearctic and the ...

(''Cygnus columbianus''). The swans leave their breeding grounds in the Russian

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

away and the lake is the first stop for many. Bewick's rarely fly more than without fueling so they are near to the limits of their endurance when they reach the lake.

Ecology

The ecological condition of the lake basin is, in general, satisfactory – water is mostly of grades I and II (clean), and is of grade III in some rivers due to the high content of

phosphorus Phosphorus is a chemical element; it has Chemical symbol, symbol P and atomic number 15. All elemental forms of phosphorus are highly Reactivity (chemistry), reactive and are therefore never found in nature. They can nevertheless be prepared ar ...

. The water condition of the rivers has improved since 2001–2007, but there is an increase in population of

blue-green algae Cyanobacteria ( ) are a group of autotrophic gram-negative bacteria that can obtain biological energy via oxygenic photosynthesis. The name "cyanobacteria" () refers to their bluish green (cyan) color, which forms the basis of cyanobacteria' ...

. The main problem of Lake Peipus is its

eutrophication Eutrophication is a general term describing a process in which nutrients accumulate in a body of water, resulting in an increased growth of organisms that may deplete the oxygen in the water; ie. the process of too many plants growing on the s ...

.Minutes of the eleventh meeting of the Joint Russian-Estonian commission for the protection and rational use of transboundary waters
PercaFluviatilisMediumSize.JPG,

European perch The European perch (''Perca fluviatilis''), also known as the common perch, redfin perch, big-scaled redfin, English perch, Euro perch, Eurasian perch, Eurasian river perch, Hatch, poor man's rockfish or in Anglophone parts of Europe, simply the ...

AbramisBramaCarpBream.JPG, Carp bream Blausteinsee Tierwelt 03.jpg, Roach Walleye painting.jpg, Pike-perch

Economy

The towns standing on the banks are relatively small and include Mustvee (population 1,610), Kallaste (population 1,260) and Gdov (population 4,400). The largest city,

Pskov Pskov ( rus, Псков, a=Ru-Псков.oga, p=psˈkof; see also Names of Pskov in different languages, names in other languages) is a types of inhabited localities in Russia, city in northwestern Russia and the administrative center of Pskov O ...

(population 202,000) stands on the river Velikaya, from the lake. Ship navigation is well developed and serves fishery, transport of goods and passengers and tourist tours.TrevelTurs. Peipsi-Pskov lake system
. Traveltours.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
All-transport.info. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. The picturesque shores of the lake are a popular destination for tourism and recreation at several tourist camps and sanatoriums.

History

In 1242, the southern part of Lake Peipus hosted a major historical battle where

Teutonic Knights The Teutonic Order is a Catholic religious institution founded as a military society in Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Saint Mary in Jerusalem was formed to aid Christians on their pilgrimages to t ...

were defeated by

Novgorod Veliky Novgorod ( ; , ; ), also known simply as Novgorod (), is the largest city and administrative centre of Novgorod Oblast, Russia. It is one of the oldest cities in Russia, being first mentioned in the 9th century. The city lies along the V ...

troops led by

Alexander Nevsky Alexander Yaroslavich Nevsky (; ; monastic name: ''Aleksiy''; 13 May 1221 – 14 November 1263) was Prince of Novgorod (1236–1240; 1241–1256; 1258–1259), Grand Prince of Kiev (1249–1263), and Grand Prince of Vladimir (1252–1263). ...

. The battle is remarkable in that it was mostly fought on the frozen surface of the lake and is therefore called the

. The largest city on the lake,

, is also one of the oldest cities in Russia, known from at least 903 AD from a record in the

Primary Chronicle The ''Primary Chronicle'', shortened from the common ''Russian Primary Chronicle'' (, commonly transcribed ''Povest' vremennykh let'' (PVL), ), is a Rus' chronicle, chronicle of Kievan Rus' from about 850 to 1110. It is believed to have been or ...

of the Laurentian Codex. The city had a certain measure of

independence Independence is a condition of a nation, country, or state, in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the status of ...

even though it was dominated by its neighbours -

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

and Muscovy - and eventually incorporated in the Russian state. Several historical buildings remain in the city, including Mirozhsky Monastery (1156, which contains famous frescoes of 14–17th centuries), Pskov Kremlin (14–17th centuries) with the five-domed Trinity Cathedral (1682–1699), churches of Ivanovo (until 1243), Snetogorsky Monastery (13th century), Church of Basil (1413), Church of Cosmas and Damian (1462), Church of St. George (1494) and others.ancient city of Pskov
Old-pskov.ru. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. Gdov was founded in 1431 as a fortress and became a city in 1780;Гдов

the only remains of the historical Gdov Kremlin are three fortress walls.My Gdov
. mygdov.ru (in Russian) Kallaste was founded in the 18th century by the

Old Believers Old Believers or Old Ritualists ( Russian: староверы, ''starovery'' or старообрядцы, ''staroobryadtsy'') is the common term for several religious groups, which maintain the old liturgical and ritual practices of the Russian ...

who had fled from the

area,Kallaste. A bit of history
Moles.ee (2000-06-28). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.
Starover.ee. Retrieved on 2012-01-21. and there is still a functional Russian Orthodox Old-Rite Church in the town. Near Kallaste, there is one of the largest surfacings of

Devonian The Devonian ( ) is a period (geology), geologic period and system (stratigraphy), system of the Paleozoic era (geology), era during the Phanerozoic eon (geology), eon, spanning 60.3 million years from the end of the preceding Silurian per ...

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

with a length of and a maximum height of , as well as several caves and one of the largest colonies of

swallow The swallows, martins, and saw-wings, or Hirundinidae are a family of passerine songbirds found around the world on all continents, including occasionally in Antarctica. Highly adapted to aerial feeding, they have a distinctive appearance. The ...

s in Estonia.Russian site about the city Kallaste
Kallaste.ucoz.org (2012-01-04). Retrieved on 2012-01-21.

Notes

References

External links

360° aerial panorama of Peipus and PiirissaarPeipsi Infokeskus
Estonian tourist information website
Settlements in the vicinity of Lake Peipsi
Estonica {{DEFAULTSORT:Peipus, Lake Estonia–Russia border International lakes of Europe Lakes of Estonia Lakes of Pskov Oblast Lakes of Jõgeva County Lakes of Tartu County LPeipus