Editing Saimaa (section)

==Topography==
The [[Vuoksi River]] flows from Saimaa to [[Lake Ladoga]]. Most of the lake is dotted with islands, and narrow canals divide the lake in many parts, each having its own name (major basins include [[Lake Orivesi|Orivesi]], [[Puruvesi]], [[Haukivesi]], [[Yövesi]], [[Pihlajavesi (Saimaa)|Pihlajavesi]], and [[Lake Pyhäselkä|Pyhäselkä]], among others). The southernmost major basin is sometimes called "Suur-Saimaa", or "Greater Saimaa", but this is not an official name.

Saimaa exhibits all major types of lake in Finland at different levels of [[eutrophication]].<ref>Making of [[Tale of a Lake|Järven tarina]].</ref>

Finland's Ministry for Foreign Affairs describes the Saimaa basin (an area larger than the lake) as a "maze of detail": according to an English-language statement, the area includes 14,000 islands and "more shoreline here per unit of area than anywhere else in the world, the total length being nearly {{convert|15000|km}}."<ref name=VF_Hamalainen>{{cite web|last=Hämäläinen|first=Arto|title=Saimaa – Finland's largest lake|publisher=Virtual Finland|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080214225230/http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25710&LAN=ENG|date=November 2001|archive-date=14 February 2008|url=http://virtual.finland.fi/netcomm/news/showarticle.asp?intNWSAID=25710&LAN=ENG}}</ref>{{clarify|date=March 2024|reason=Per what unit of area? We must avoid invoking the coastline paradox.}}
{{Gallery|mode=packed
|Image:Hietasaari, Lake Saimaa.JPG|Hietasaari island on Lake Saimaa
|File:Savonlinna on lake Saimaa.jpg|[[Olavinlinna]] fortress on Lake Saimaa
|File:Lake Saimaa.jpg|Lake Saimaa shoreline}}