Editing Saimaa

{{Short description|Largest lake in Finland and the fourth largest in Europe}}
{{Infobox body of water
| name               = Saimaa
| other_name         = Saimen
| image              = Lake Saimaa aerial.jpg
| caption            = Aerial view of frozen Lake Saimaa.
| image_bathymetry   = 
| caption_bathymetry = 
| location           = southeastern [[Finland]]
| coords             = {{coord|61|15|N|028|15|E|region:FI_type:waterbody_scale:1000000|display=inline,title}}
| pushpin_map        = Finland
| type               = 
| inflow             = 
| outflow            = [[Vuoksi River]], [[Saimaa Canal]]
| catchment          = 
| basin_countries    = [[Finland]]
| length             = 
| width              = 
| area               = {{convert|4279|km2|mi2|abbr=on}}<ref name="Jarviwiki">{{cite web |title=Suur-Saimaa |url=https://www.jarviwiki.fi/wiki/Suur-Saimaa |website=Järvi-meriwiki |publisher=Finnish Environment Institute |access-date=22 February 2023 |language=fi |date=9 March 2021 |quote=[Suur-Saimaan] yhteenlaskettu pinta-ala on 427&nbsp;946,4&nbsp;ha ja suurin syvyys 85,81&nbsp;m. |trans-quote=The total surface area [of Suur-Saimaa] is 427,946.4 [[hectare]]s and its greatest depth is 85.81 meters.}}</ref>
| depth              = {{convert|17|m|ft|0|abbr=on}}
| max-depth          = {{convert|86|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref name="Jarviwiki" />
| volume             = {{convert|36|km3|cumi|abbr=on}}
| residence_time     = 
| shore              = {{convert|14850|km|mi|abbr=on}}<ref name="Jarviwiki" />
| elevation          = {{convert|76|m|ft|abbr=on}}
| islands            = 13,710<ref name="Jarviwiki" />
| cities             = {{ubl|[[Joensuu]]|[[Lappeenranta]]|[[Mikkeli]]|[[Savonlinna]]|[[Imatra]]|[[Varkaus]]}}
}}
'''Saimaa''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|s|aɪ|m|ɑː}} {{respell|SY|mah}}, {{IPA|fi|ˈsɑi̯mɑː|lang}}; {{langx|sv|Saimen}}) is a lake located in the [[Finnish Lakeland]] area in southeastern [[Finland]]. With a surface area of approximately {{convert|4279|km2}}, it is the largest [[lake]] in Finland, and the [[List of largest lakes of Europe|fourth-largest natural freshwater lake in Europe]]. 

The name Saimaa likely comes from a [[Pre-Finno-Ugric substrate|non-Uralic, non-Indo European substrate]] language. Alternatively, it has been proposed that the name may be connected to the [[Sami language|Sami]] word ''sápmi''.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.kotus.fi/nyt/kysymyksia_ja_vastauksia/nimien_alkuperasta/saimaa|title=Saimaa|website=Kotimaisten kielten keskus}}</ref>

==History==
[[Image:GreaterSaimaa.gif|left|thumb|200px|Saimaa highlighted on a satellite photo, Gulf of Finland at the bottom, [[Lake Ladoga]] on the right. The black line is the Russo-Finnish border.]]
The lake was formed by [[Glacier|glacial]] melting at the end of the [[Last Glacial Period|Ice Age]]. Major [[town]]s on the lakeshore include [[Lappeenranta]], [[Imatra]], [[Savonlinna]], [[Mikkeli]], [[Varkaus]], and [[Joensuu]]. About 6,000 years ago, ancient Lake Saimaa, estimated to cover nearly {{cvt|9000|km2|||}} at the time, was abruptly discharged through a new outlet. The event created thousands of square kilometres of new residual wetlands.<ref>Markku Oinonen et al. (2014) Event reconstruction through Bayesian chronology: Massive mid-Holocene lake-burst triggered large-scale ecological and cultural change; url=http://hol.sagepub.com/content/24/11/1419.abstract</ref> Following this event, the region saw a population maximum in the decades following only to later return to an ecological development towards old boreal conifer forests which saw a decline in population.{{cn|date=June 2023}}

==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}}

==Natural resources==
{{Moresources|section|date=June 2023}}
[[File:Pusa hispida saimensis ca 1956.jpg|thumb|right|''Pusa hispida saimensis'', also known as [[Saimaa ringed seal]], in 1956.]]
An endangered [[freshwater seal]], the [[Saimaa ringed seal]], lives only at Saimaa.  Another of the lake's endangered species is the Saimaa [[salmon]].<ref name=F&S_salmon>{{cite journal|last=McClane|first=A.J.|title=Fishing: The Missing Link|journal=Field & Stream|date=April 1973|volume=LXXVII|issue=12|page=144|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=e6tsV53NNgAC&q=%22lake+saimaa%22+salmon&pg=PA144|access-date=20 March 2013}}</ref>

Due to its rich, easily  accessible asbestos deposits, the shores of the lake are the most probable origin of [[asbestos-ceramic]], a type of pottery made between c. 1900 BC – 200 AD.

The areas around Saimaa lake are a very popular location for summer cabins as well as lake cruises.

==Saimaa canal==
{{Unsourced|section|date=June 2023}}
The [[Saimaa Canal]] from [[Lauritsala]] ([[Lappeenranta]]) to [[Vyborg]] is 43 kilometres long and connects Saimaa to the [[Gulf of Finland]]. Nearly half of the Saimaa Canal runs through a land area leased from Russia. The canal’s eight locks are controlled from the remote control centres at Mälkiä and Brusnitchnoe.<ref>{{Cite web |publisher=Finnish Transport Infrastructure Agency |title=Saimaa Canal |url=https://vayla.fi/en/transport-network/waterways/canals-and-bridges/the-saimaa-canal}}</ref> Other [[canal]]s connect Saimaa to smaller lakes in Eastern Finland and form a network of [[waterway]]s. These waterways are mainly used to transport [[wood]], [[mineral]]s, [[metal]]s, [[wood pulp|pulp]] and other [[cargo]], though [[tourism|tourist]]s also use the waterways.

==Notable people==
* The Russian writer [[Maxim Gorky]] went into exile near the shores of Lake Saimaa for a period of time after his apartment was raided by the [[Black Hundreds]] in the aftermath of the [[Moscow Uprising of 1905]]. He wrote to his divorced wife Ekaterina, writing "it's beautiful here, like a fairy tale".<ref>Figes, Orlando: ''A People's Tragedy: The Russian Revolution 1891–1924''. The Bodley Head, London (2014). p. 202</ref>

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==See also==
{{Portal|Lakes|Finland}}
* [[Lakes of Finland]]
* [[Soisalo]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
{{commons category|Saimaa}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20090802063028/http://www.ymparisto.fi/default.asp?node=18480&lan=fi www.ymparisto.fi – Saimaa, nimet ja rajaukset] {{in lang|fi}}
*[http://www.visitsaimaa.fi/en/ Visit Saimaa official website], Mikkeli, Savonlinna and Varkaus regions
*[http://finland.fi/picture_book/saimaa/ Saimaa – the heart of Finnish lakeland], from [http://finland.fi/public/default.aspx?contentid=163919&contentlan=2&culture=en-US thisisFinland] website
*[http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/sectors/tourism/eden/themes-destinations/countries/finland/saimaa-holiday Awarded "EDEN – European Destinations of Excellence" non traditional tourist destination 2010]

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[[Category:Saimaa| ]]
[[Category:Landforms of North Karelia]]
[[Category:Landforms of South Karelia]]
[[Category:Landforms of South Savo]]
[[Category:Landforms of North Savo]]