page_title: Geography of Scotland
section_title: Lochs
hierarchical_section_title: Geography of Scotland / Physical geography / Lochs
caption_attribution_description: English: Loch Shin, looking up the loch towards the Airde point.
context_page_description: The geography of Scotland is varied, from rural lowlands to unspoilt uplands, and from large cities to sparsely inhabited islands. Located in Northern Europe, Scotland comprises the northern half of the island of Great Britain as well as 790 surrounding islands encompassing the major archipelagos of the Shetland Islands, Orkney Islands and the Inner and Outer Hebrides.
  Scotland's only land border is with England, which runs for 60 miles in a northeasterly direction from the Solway Firth in the west to the North Sea on the east coast. Separated by the North Channel, the island of Ireland lies 13 miles from Mull of Kintyre on the Scottish mainland. Norway is located 190 miles to the northeast of Scotland across the North Sea. The Atlantic Ocean, which fringes the coastline of western and northern Scotland and its islands, influences the temperate, maritime climate of the country.
  Scotland contains the majority of mountainous terrain in the UK. The topography of Scotland is distinguished by the Highland Boundary Fault – a geological rock fracture – which traverses the Scottish mainland from Helensburgh to Stonehaven.
context_section_description: Freshwater bodies in Scotland are known as lochs, with the exception of the Lake of Menteith and one or two man-made "lakes". 90% of the standing fresh water volume of Great Britain lies within Scotland. Loch Lomond is the largest freshwater body in Britain by area, although with a capacity of 1.78 cubic miles (7.4 km³) Loch Ness is the most voluminous. The water in Loch Ness is nearly double that of all the lakes of England and Wales combined, and is by volume the largest lake in the British Isles.
  Loch Lomond 27.5 square miles (71 km²)
  Loch Ness 22.0 square miles (57 km²)
  Loch Awe 15.0 square miles (39 km²)
  Loch Maree 11.0 square miles (28 km²)
  Loch Morar 10.3 square miles (27 km²)
  Loch Tay 10.2 square miles (26 km²)
  Loch Shin 8.7 square miles (23 km²)
  Loch Shiel 7.6 square miles (20 km²)
  Loch Rannoch 7.4 square miles (19 km²)
  Loch Ericht 7.2 square miles (19 km²)
caption: Loch Shin is one of many freshwater bodies in Scotland.
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