This list oflakes in France roughly distinguishes three categories: the mountainlakes, sorted first by massif, and then bydépartements; the lakes in plains, sorted by river basin; and the coastal lakes.
Lake Geneva (Lac Léman), the largest in western Europe with 582 km2 (225 sq mi), partly inFrance, partly inSwitzerland, is listed inHaute-Savoie for its French part.
The lakes of mountain massifs can be natural, often ofglaciary origin (G), or volcanic (V), or artificial, generally built for hydraulic energy purposes (H) or flow regulation (F).
