The entire eastern portion of Finland is more sea than land. With literally tens of thousands of lakes, rivers, marshes, and ponds, eastern Finland is a fabulous aquatic playground. The dominant lake of the region is massive Lake Saimaa, the “lake of a thousand islands.” Lake Saimaa itself has an area of some 1,300 square kilometers – excluding its numerous islands. The whole lake system is drained by the river Vuoksi, which leaves Lake Saimaa to the north of the town of Imatra and flows into Lake Ladoga in Russia. The hilly shores of the lake and most of the islands are almost entirely covered with coniferous forest, with some birch forest farther north.Saimaa is the largest lake in Finland at approximately 1,700 square miles (4,400 sq km) making it also the fourth largest natural freshwater lake in all of Europe. The lake has an average depth of 56 feet (17 m) with the deepest point reaching 269 feet (82 m).
