| Vanajavesi | |
|---|---|
| Primary outflows | Pyhäjärvi |
| Basin countries | Finland |
| Surface area | 119 km² |
| Average depth | 8 m |
| Water volume | 0,952 km³ |
| Shore length1 | 457 km |
| Surface elevation | 79,4 m |
| Settlements | Hämeenlinna, Akaa, Valkeakoski |
| 1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure. | |
Vanajavesi is a lake in Finland. It is part of the Kokemäenjoki basin. The lake gathers waters from a wide area in the regions of Pirkanmaa, Tavastia Proper and parts of the Päijänne Tavastia region.
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The biggest city by the lake is Hämeenlinna in the Tavastia Proper region and other cities and towns include Valkeakoski and Akaa (formerly Toijala) in the Pirkanmaa region. In addition to these the municipalities by the lake include Lempäälä in the pirkanmaa region and Hattula and Janakkala in the Tavastia Proper region. Among the settlements by the lake are also the former municipalities of Viiala (now part of Akaa), Sääksmäki (now part of Valkeakoski), Kalvola (now part of Hämeenlinna), Tyrväntö (now part of Valkeakoski and Hattula), Hämeenlinnan maalaiskunta (now part of Hämeenlinna) and Vanaja (now part of Hämeenlinna).
In northeast, a chain of lakes that consists of the lakes Längelmävesi, Vesijärvi, Roine, Pälkänevesi and Mallasvesi drains into Vanajavesi in Valkeakoski, and from southeast another chain of lakes, consisting of the lakes Lummene, Vehkajärvi, Vesijako, Kuohijärvi, Kukkia, Iso-Roine, Hauhonselkä and Ilmoilanselkä drains into the lake Mallasvesi and thus joins into the first mentioned. In Finnish the former chain of lakes is called Längelmäveden reitti according to the biggest lake and the latter Hauhon reitti as it runs trough the former municipality of Hauho.
From south, a third chain of lakes and rivers originating in Pääjärvi in east and Loppijärvi in west drains into Vanajavesi. Together with Vanajavesi itself these form a chain of lakes called Vanajaveden reitti in Finnish.
From southwest, among others Rutajärvi and several other lakes drain in Vanajavesi.
Vanajavesi itself drains into lake Pyhäjärvi trough Kuokkalankoski rapids in Lempäälä in north.
Vanajavesi with its environments is the central area of the historical province of Tavastia in Finland and it has been declared as one of the national landscapes of Finland as defined by the Finnish ministry of environment in the 1990s.