Orava (reservoir)

Orava
Coordinates	49°23′59″N 19°32′44″E / 49.39972°N 19.54556°E / 49.39972; 19.54556Coordinates: 49°23′59″N 19°32′44″E / 49.39972°N 19.54556°E / 49.39972; 19.54556
Lake type	reservoir
Primary outflows	Orava river
Basin countries	Slovakia
Surface area	35.2 km²

Orava is a reservoir in northernmost Slovakia, which is the largest lake in Slovakia (35.2 km²). It has been constructed between 1941 and 1953 as a dam built on the former two sources of the Orava river. Several former villages had to be inundated for this purpose. Probably the best known of them was Slanica, the birthplace of the Slovak intellectual and cleric Anton Bernolák (Antonius Bernolacius). Today, the reservoir is protected by the Horná Orava Protected Landscape Area.

The average depth of the reservoir is 15 meters. In the northeastern extension of the reservoir is Vtáčí ostrov (Birds' Island), a government ornithological reservation. Species like herons, great cormorants, spoonbills and others inhabit the reservation, which is one of important bird areas of Europe. The wetlands around the reservoir are also regarded as one of the most important in Europe. The protection of the forests skirting the Orava Reservoir have helped check erosion.^[1]

A view of the Orava Reservoir.

View of the Orava with the forest on its shore.