Saimaa

Saimaa
Saimen
Aerial view of frozen Lake Saimaa.
Saimaa
Location	southeastern Finland
Coordinates	61°15′N 028°15′E / 61.250°N 28.250°E / 61.250; 28.250
Primary outflows	Vuoksi River, Saimaa Canal
Basin countries	Finland
Surface area	4,279 km2 (1,652 sq mi)[1]
Average depth	17 m (56 ft)
Max. depth	86 m (282 ft)[1]
Water volume	36 km3 (8.6 cu mi)
Shore length1	14,850 km (9,230 mi)[1]
Surface elevation	76 m (249 ft)
Islands	13,710[1]
Settlements	Kuopio 118 012 Joensuu 76 344 Lappeenranta 72 457 Mikkeli 52 248 Savonlinna 38 281 Imatra 24 456 Varkaus 20 393
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Saimaa (/ˈsaɪmɑː/ SY-mah, Finnish: [ˈsɑi̯mɑː]; Swedish: Saimen) is a lake located in the Finnish Lakeland area in southeastern Finland. At approximately 4,279 square kilometres (1,652 sq mi), it is the largest lake in Finland, and the fourth-largest natural freshwater lake in Europe.

The name Saimaa likely comes from a non-Uralic, non-Indo European substrate language. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the name may be connected to the Sami word sápmi.^[2]