Chudskoe-Pskov, Lake

(also Lake Gdov, Peipsi Järv, or Lake Peipus), a lake in the Estonian SSR and Pskov Oblast, RSFSR. The lake’s area is 3,550 sq km. The average depth is 7.1 m, and the maximum depth, 15 m.

Lake Chudskoe-Pskov consists of three parts: Lake Chudskoe, with an area of 2,670 sq km, Lake Pskov, with an area of 710 sq km, and the channel between them, Lake Teploe, with an area of 170 sq km. The lake is a relict of a large glacial reservoir. The shores are mostly low and covered with peat bogs. The lake bottom is flat and consists of a thick layer of gray silt. A sand bar, overgrown in places with pine, extends along the northern and eastern shores of Lake Chudskoe. Islands abound in Lake Chudskoe-Pskov, the largest being Pirissar (Porka). The highest water levels usually occur in mid-April to early May; the range of fluctuation is 3.0 m. Some changes in water level are caused by wind-driven waves. The lake freezes in late November or early December. Lakes Pskov and Teploe open up earlier than Lake Chudskoe, in late April or early May.

About 30 rivers empty into Lake Chudskoe-Pskov, the largest of which are the Velikaia and the Emajógi (Ema River). The Narva River of the Gulf of Finland basin flows out of it. The lake is navigable. There is commercial fishing for European bream (Perca fluviatilis), Eurasian perch, roach, pike perch, whitefish, and lacustrine smelt (Osmerus ereplanus ereplanus).

In 1242, a battle between Russian forces and German Livonian Knights took place on the ice in the southern part of the lake (seeBATTLE ON THE ICE OF 1242).