Lake Prespa
Lake Prespa has an area of 263.0 km² (OpenStreetMap). The area is that of the whole water body; about 35.6 km² (14 %) lie in Greece and the rest lies outside it. Its surface lies 853 m above sea level (Wikidata). Its depth is 54 m (Wikidata). It lies in the municipality of Prespes (regional unit Florina, Western Macedonia). Its surface overlaps the Natura 2000 site Prespa National Park (GR1340001). The nearest village with a page is Lemos, 2.7 km from the shore in a straight line.
What kind of water it is
The facts of the water body, with the source of each row.
| Item | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Kind | Lake | OpenStreetMap |
| Area | 263.0 km² (whole water body) | OpenStreetMap, worked out from the polygon |
| Greek part | 35.6 km² (14 %) | sample of points inside municipal boundaries |
| Surface height above sea level | 853 m | Wikidata |
| Depth | 54 m | Wikidata, property "vertical depth" |
The water body crosses the border. The area in the table is that of the whole water body and the Greek part was worked out by the method described at the end of the page.
Where it lies
Municipalities with at least 5 % of the Greek surface, by the municipal boundaries of OpenStreetMap.
| Municipality | Regional unit | Share of the Greek surface |
|---|---|---|
| Prespes | Florina | 100 % |
Part of the water body lies outside Greece. The Greek part (35.6 km², 14 %) comes from a sample of points of the polygon that fall inside the boundary of a Greek municipality (OpenStreetMap); it is not an official delimitation of the border. The municipalities and the distances on this page concern the Greek part only.
What is protected
Natura 2000 sites that cover at least 3 % of the Greek surface of the lake. Each page describes the habitats and species of the site.
- Prespa National ParkGR1340001 · covers 99 % of the surface
Lying in a Natura 2000 site means special assessment procedures apply to projects and activities; this page does not judge what is permitted on a particular plot.
Official bathing-water sites
The official bathing-water register has no site that the European Environment Agency (EEA) classes as a lake site and that lies within 250 m of the shore of the lake. That does not mean swimming is allowed or forbidden, or that the water is clean or unfit; it only means there is no official classification here.
The beaches with an official water-quality classification are in the beach list; the method is explained at the end of the page.
Places nearby
Pages of this site, in a straight line and on the same side of the water, nearest first.
Towns and villages
Peaks
- Drenitsetopeak 1,120 m, 436 m from the shore
- Sernopeak 1,261 m, 2.5 km from the shore
- Devasmountain 1,373 m, 2.7 km from the shore
Ski centres
- Vigla Ski Centreski centre, 3 lifts, 14.9 km from the shore
Trails
- E6 European long-distance pathinternational, 1585 km, 310 m from the line
- Pindus Trailregional, 656 km, 244 m from the line
Nearest airport
- Kastoria National AirportKSO, 47.5 km
Daylight
Sunrise and sunset at the point on the water that the map shows, for the 15th of each month, in Greek time (Europe/Athens). Calculated with the standard solar-geometry formula for a flat horizon; terrain around the water and cloud are not taken into account.
| Month | Day length | Sunrise | Sunset |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 9.6 h | 07:58 | 17:30 |
| February | 10.6 h | 07:31 | 18:08 |
| March | 11.9 h | 06:49 | 18:41 |
| April | 13.3 h | 06:58 | 20:13 |
| May | 14.4 h | 06:19 | 20:44 |
| June | 15.1 h | 06:03 | 21:08 |
| July | 14.8 h | 06:16 | 21:06 |
| August | 13.8 h | 06:45 | 20:36 |
| September | 12.5 h | 07:15 | 19:47 |
| October | 11.2 h | 07:45 | 18:57 |
| November | 9.9 h | 07:22 | 17:19 |
| December | 9.3 h | 07:52 | 17:08 |
Climate of the nearest settlement
This section is about Lemos, the nearest settlement with a page (height 1,024 m), not about the water itself. The water temperature of the lake is not in the open data we use.
| Month | Mean temperature (°C) | Rain (mm) |
|---|---|---|
| January | −1.5 | 57 |
| February | 0.1 | 53 |
| March | 3.9 | 54 |
| April | 8.4 | 57 |
| May | 13.5 | 62 |
| June | 18.4 | 50 |
| July | 21.8 | 36 |
| August | 21.9 | 36 |
| September | 16.5 | 60 |
| October | 11.1 | 66 |
| November | 5.5 | 69 |
| December | 0.0 | 70 |
NASA POWER (MERRA-2), period 2001–2020, model cell about 20 km from the settlement (a grid of about 50 km); temperatures were adjusted to the settlement's height with the standard lapse rate, because it differed from the cell's mean height by 100 m or more. Monthly averages from a regional model, not station readings and not a forecast.
How the numbers were counted
The water body, its outline and its name are OpenStreetMap's (ODbL, Geofabrik snapshot 24 Sep 2026, processed 9 Oct 2026). The area was worked out from the polygon, simplified to about 150 m, and is the area the map shows, not an official figure. A water body has a page when it has a name, an area of at least 2 km² in OpenStreetMap and at least 1 km² inside a Greek municipality.
The municipalities, the Greek part and the overlap with Natura 2000 sites come from a grid of about 10,000 points over the polygon's box: the points that fall inside the water and inside an OpenStreetMap municipal boundary or a YPEN (geoportal) Natura 2000 site are counted. The percentages are a sample, not an exact surface measurement.
The towns, beaches, sights and peaks of the "Places nearby" section are pages of this site. Distances are in a straight line from the nearest shore, not road kilometres, and a place is left out when sea lies between it and the water. A bathing site of the register counts as being on the lake when the EEA classes it as a lake site (the specialisedZoneType column of the classification table) and it lies within 250 m of the outline; of the register's sites that have a page on this site, the EEA classes only 2 as lake sites.
The lake's Wikidata item (Q204392) is the one the OpenStreetMap mapper named in the wikidata tag, not a match by name (CC0, 9 Oct 2026). The surface height (P2044), depth (P4511, which does not say whether it is the greatest or the mean depth), inflows (P200), outflow (P201), drainage basin (P4614) and dam (P4792) come from it, only where they exist. We copy no text from Wikipedia.
See also
- Prespes Municipalitymunicipality
- Florinaregional unit
- Western Macedoniaregion
- All lakes and lagoonslist
- Natura 2000 siteslist
- Sights of Greecelist
- Regions of Greecelist
Sources
Every figure on this page comes from the sources below, with the date each was updated.
- OpenStreetMap: lakes, reservoirs, lagoons and damsOpenStreetMap contributors, via a Geofabrik snapshot · Geofabrik snapshot of 24 September 2026 · Date:
- Wikidata: lakes, surface height, depth, inflows, outflows and damsWikidata contributors · Live SPARQL query snapshot, taken 9 October 2026 · Date:
- Monthly climate normalsNASA POWER, MERRA-2 meteorological model · 2001–2020 climatology period returned by NASA POWER · Date:
- Natura 2000 protected sitesMinistry for Environment and Energy: YPEN geoportal · Current national Natura 2000 network · Date:
- Designated bathing waters (locations)Ministry for Environment and Energy: YPEN geoportal · Current bathing season register · Date:
- Bathing water quality classificationEuropean Environment Agency: WISE Bathing Water Directive database · Latest assessed season in the EEA database; every season from 2011 is kept as a per-beach history · Date:
- This water body's item in Wikidata (link only)Wikidata contributors, CC0
- This water body in OpenStreetMap (link only)OpenStreetMap contributors, ODbL
Page updated .