It has an elevation of , a length of , a surface area of and a maximum depth of . Once the site of two smaller lakes (
Lago Bianco and
Lago della Scala), the current reservoir was formed in the early 20th century by the constructions of two dams (
Scala and
Arlas) at its southern and northern ends. The current lake drains to the south, as did both its precursor lakes, with its water eventually reaching the
Mediterranean via the rivers
Poschiavino,
Adda and
Po. By contrast,
Lej Nair, just below the northern dam, drains north into the
Black Sea via the rivers
Inn and
Danube. The summit of the
Bernina railway line, which is the
highest mountain crossing railway in Europe, runs alongside the eastern side of the lake, with the
Ospizio Bernina station at roughly the mid-point. The road across the Bernina pass (
Hauptstrasse 29) follows a higher route on the same side of the lake. Most of the lake lies within the
municipality of Poschiavo, although the most northerly section and the northern dam lie within the
municipality of Pontresina. File:2007 10 Berninabahn 041020.jpg|The shoreline of the lake File:Lago Bianco from Diavolezza.jpg|View of Lago Bianco from the Diavolezza cable car File:Berninapass Lago Bianco.JPG|North (
Arlas) dam File:Staumauer Lago Bianco Süd, von der anderen Seite fotografiert, mit Gebäude und Fahrzeug von Repower.JPG|South (
Scala) dam File:2011-08-02 11-48-07 Switzerland La Rösa.jpg|The Bernina line alongside the lake ==See also==