Lake Prespa

Oct. 3, 2024

According to experts, of the 450 hectares of Little Prespa Lake in Albania, at least 430 hectares have been transformed into swamps or dried up.

About Lake Prespa:

  • It is one of the oldest tectonic lakes in Europe, and also the highest tectonic lake on the Balkan Peninsula.
  • It lies at the junction of three major geological masses: a granite massif on the East, a karstic massif belonging to Galicica on the West, and the Suva Gora on the South.
  • The region is famous for having rocks from the oldest Paleozoic form to sediments belonging to the young Neogene era.
  • It is made up of the Great Prespa Lake (Albania, Greece and the Republic of Macedonia) and Small Prespa Lake.
  • The majority of Little Prespa Lake, also known as Small Lake Prespa, sits in Greek territory, with just its southern tip crossing into Albania. 
  • Rising temperatures and increasingly mild winters with little snowfall and a scarcity of precipitation have battered the lake.