Largest lakes & reservoirs in Italy by water volume
The estimated volume of water that a lake contains is measured at the lake’s normal elevation. By this measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is Siberia’s Lake Baikal.Water Volume can be measured in acre-feet, in cubic miles, or in cubic kilometers. One acre-foot is the amount of water needed to cover one acre (43,560 square feet) to a depth of one foot. One cubic mile equals 3,379,200 acre-feet. One cubic kilometer equals 810,713 acre-feet. 1 acre-foot is equal to 325,851 US gallons. Siberia’s Lake Baikal contains about 6,276,367,740,000,000 gallons of freshwater – nearly 1 million gallons for every living person on earth.
The other – and more widely used – measure of a lake’s size is the lake’s surface acreage. By that measure, the world’s largest freshwater lake is North America’s Lake Superior.
Note: In the United States, an acre foot is a unit of volume used to refer to large-scale bodies of water. It is defined by the volume of water needed to cover 1 acre of surface area to a depth of 1 foot.
You can find many of the the world’s largest lakes (by water volume) on LakeLubbers. Note: For some lakes, the water volume data is unknown or does not apply, so you may see fewer lakes than the total 21 articles we have published for Italy lakes.
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Below are lakes within Italy > Compared by water volume. This list does not represent all lakes in Italy, only the 21 Italy lake articles we have published on the LakeLubbers website.
Lake name | Water vol. in ac-ft | Lake description |
---|---|---|
Lake Garda, Italy (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy, Veneto Region, Italy) |
39,749,268 ac-ft | (Also known as Garda Lake, Lago di Garda) Lake Garda, or Lago di Garda in Italian, is the largest lake in Italy, sprawling over 90,000 acres with beautiful vistas. To the north, the lake is gr… |
Lake Maggiore, Italy / Switzerland (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy, Piedmont Region, Italy, Switzerland, Ticino Region, Switzerland) |
29,996,388 ac-ft | Lake Maggiore, also known as Verbano, is Italy’s second largest lake. Although not quite as popular as the well-known Lake Como, the beautifully roman… |
Lake Como, Italy (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy) |
18,241,047 ac-ft | One of the most recognizable and visited European lakes, Lake Como — also known as the Lago di Como — snuggles into the mountains and valleys of the… |
Lake Bolsena (Italy, Lazio Region, Italy) |
7,458,561 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di Bolsena) Held in the volcanic crater like a jewel in its setting, 28,032-acre Lake Bolsena sparkles in central Italy. Over hundreds of thousands of years the c… |
Lake Iseo (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy) |
6,161,420 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago d'Iseo) A ferry glides across 15,271-acre Lake Iseo to arrive at the dock on Monte Isola. Passengers with packages and bicycles climb off the ferry; curiously… |
Lake Lugano (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy, Switzerland, Ticino Region, Switzerland) |
5,269,635 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di Lugano, Ceresio) Lake Lugano, which curls through southeastern Switzerland just south of the Swiss Alps and borders northern Italy, features the best of both of these… |
Lake Orta (Italy, Piedmont Region, Italy) |
1,053,927 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago d'Orta) Described by 19th century French novelist Honere Balzac as a “grey pearl in a green jewel box,” Lake Orta in the Piedmont region of Italy has been the… |
Montedoglio Lake, Italy (Italy, Tuscany Region, Italy) |
115,527 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di Montedoglio, Lake Montedoglio) Lake Montedoglio is nestled in the Province of Arezzo, Tuscany, Italy. Although Lake Montedoglio was created for irrigation and as a water source for… |
Lake Idro (Italy, Lombardy Region, Italy) |
27,159 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago d'Idro, Eridio) Set against the backdrop of medieval villages, sailboats glide across the surface of 2,768-acre Lake Idro. No engines over 10HP are allowed on the bea… |
Sabaudia Lake (Italy, Lazio Region, Italy) |
11,350 ac-ft | (Also known as Paola Lake, Lago di Sabaudia) Italy’s Sabaudia Lake has plenty of friendly neighbors, from a city to the north, a national park to the south and the cool, coastal breeze from the s… |
Lake Massaciuccoli (Italy, Tuscany Region, Italy) |
8,918 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di Massaciuccoli, Lake Puccini) A lone kayaker glides across the water of 1,680-acre Lake Massaciuccoli, his boat cutting through the white water lilies that grow thick around the sh… |
San Ruffino Lake (Italy, Marche Region, Italy) |
2,027 ac-ft | (Also known as Lago di San Ruffino) Every year San Ruffino Lake disappears, shrinking back to the river it originally was. Wildlife returns to explore the river’s shore and forage in the… |