Lake Ohrid

Lake Ohrid (  ,  , also called Liqeni i Pogradecit;) is a lake on the border between the southwestern part of North Macedonia and eastern Albania. It is one of Europe's deepest and oldest lakes. It has an unique ecosystem of worldwide importance, with more than 200 endemic species. It is the second-biggest lake on the Balkans. 

Most of the lake is part of North Macedonia, the rest belongs to Albania.  The biggest cities on the shore are  Ohrid and Struga, in North Macedonia, and Pogradec in Albania. Around 200.000 people live in the area around the lake. 

 World Heritage Sites 
North Macedonia's side of Lake Ohrid was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1979;  this was extended to also include the cultural and historic area of Ohrid in 1980. In 2010, NASA named one of Titan's lakes after the lake. In 2014, the Ohrid-Prespa Transboundary Reserve between Albania and North Macedonia was added to UNESCO's World Network of Biosphere Reserves. Albania's side of Lake Ohrid was also designated UNESCO world heritage status in 2019. North Macedonia's portion was designated as a protected Ramsar site in 2021, passing all nine criteria for proclamation.Ministry of Environment and Physical Planning (2021) "Ramsar Information Sheet: Lake Ohrid".  Ramsar Secretariat, Gland, Switzerland.

In Albania, the coastal portion of the lake holds Managed Nature Reserve status. In North Macedonia, a portion of the lakeside is part of the Galičica National Park.

 Geography 
Lake Ohrid is one of the oldest lakes in the world. It has a maximum depth of  and mean depth of , it is the deepest lake in the Balkans. It covers an area of  and contains an estimated 55.4 cubic kilometres ( million acre-feet) of water. The lake is  long and  wide .  It has a shoreline of .

64% of Lake Ohrid's shoreline and 69% of its surface area are in North Macedonia. 36% of the shoreline and 31% of its surface area are in Albania.

 References 

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