Rivers and Lakes

The Swiss rivers are highly beautiful and create a scenic landscape. The most important and longest river in Europe, The Rhine runs though Switzerland. The rivers of Switzerland include the Rhine, the Rhone, the Aare, the Inn, the Thur and the Ticino. All these rivers lead to three different seas. The Rhine and its tributaries lead to the North Sea. The Rhone and the Ticino lead into the Mediterranean. The Inn drains into the Black Sea. All these rivers originate in the centre of Switzerland's Alps. All the major cities are situated by the rivers as they provided location for trade and defensive in the past.

Most of Switzerland's countryside is made up of lakes. Switzerland has a large amount of small and large lakes. Lake Geneva and Lake Constance are the two most extensive lakes in this country. Both of these lakes are shared with the neighbouring countries. There are more than 1500 lakes in Switzerland containing around 6% of Europe's fresh water stocks Recently researchers found four giant craters in Switzerland's largest lake, Lake Neuchatel. The biggest crater is 160 meters wide and almost 100 feet deep. Researchers think that erupting ground water caused these to form. The pits are among the largest and deepest pockmarks to be found in Earth's lakes.