An elegant Y-shaped lake beneath the Alps, famed for its villas and glamour.
Surface area
146 km²
Maximum depth
about 410 m
Elevation
199 m
Continent
Europe
Countries
Italy
Did you know?
Lake Como is one of the deepest lakes in Europe, its bed plunging well below sea level.
Little-known fact
Its distinctive inverted-Y shape was carved by a branching Ice Age glacier.
Highlights
- A glamorous Alpine lake
- Among Europe's deepest
- Carved by a branching glacier
Life in the Lake Como
The fish and animals, waterbirds and water plants — including some of the rarest — that this water supports.
Animals & fish
Eurasian otter
A sleek, playful hunter whose return to a river is a sign the water has run clean again.
Waterbirds
Grey heron
A patient, statue-still angler that stalks the shallows of rivers and lakes across the Old World.
Mute swan
The great white swan of European waters, gliding in pairs that often mate for life.
Mallard
The familiar green-headed dabbling duck — ancestor of most domestic ducks — found on waters worldwide.
Interactive · 3D dive
How deep does a lake go?
A lake is layered from the sunlit, weed-filled shallows down to a cold, dark bed. Tap a zone to dive the submersible through the water column — and meet the life that belongs at each depth.
Tip: hover the column to tilt it · tap a layer to dive
Littoral Zone
The warm, bright band close to shore where sunlight reaches the bottom. Reeds, water lilies and rooted plants grow thickly here, making it the busiest, most crowded part of the whole lake.
Who lives here