Dojran Lake (Дојранско Езеро)

Dojran Lake is a tectonic lake located in the southeastern part of the Republic of Macedonia.

It is located at an altitude of 148 m. Through it crosses the border with Greece and it has typical oval shape, with a length in the direction North - South 8.9 km and a width in the direction West - East 7.1 km.

The total length of the coast is 26.5 km. The lake covers an area of 43 km2, of which to the Republic of Macedonia belong 27.4 km2 and 15.6 km2 belong to Greece. Maximum depth reaches 10 m, the average is 6.7 m and the water in the pool has accumulated 0.28 km3. Average annual water level of the lake is 156 cm - it is highest in May (205 cm), and the lowest in October (130 cm). Absolute maximum water level of 311 cm was recorded in April 1956, and an absolute minimum of -71 cm in 1990.

The lake is rich with fish, which is hunt in “mandri” with help of cormorant’s birds. Due to the low altitude, southern position, a small amount of water, high insulation and high temperature, this is the warmest lake in Republic of Macedonia.

The average annual temperature on the surface layer of the lake is 14,8 ° C. The highest is in July 24,3 ° C, and the lowest in February 3,9 ° C. Bathing season throughout the year can take up to five months (from late May to early October), when the Dojran Lake is widely visited by tourists. Water temperature in summer reaches up to 30,4 ° C, and during the cold winters it completely freezes.

Due to the high water loss in the period between 1988 – 2000 charging system was built by transferring water from the basin of the Vardar River to Basin of Dojran Lake.