Lake Onega, << oh NEHG uh or uh NYEH guh, >> is one of the largest lakes in Europe. It is located in northwestern Russia. Lake Onega covers about 3,800 square miles (9,800 square kilometers). It empties into the Svir River, which flows into Lake Ladoga.
Lake Onega and Lake Ladoga are part of a canal system that links the Baltic and White seas. The system was completed in 1933, when the government of the Soviet Union used political prisoners to build a canal joining Lake Onega to the White Sea. Many of the prisoners died of cold or starvation during the construction of the waterway. That canal did not fully function. But by the 1980’s, construction improvements had made it a major waterway.
