Sea of Galilee
largest freshwater lake in Israel
The Sea of Galilee, also called Lake Tiberias, Genezareth Lake or Kinneret, is a freshwater lake in northeast Israel. It is the lowest freshwater lake on Earth and the second-lowest lake in the world (after the Dead Sea, a salt lake), with its elevation fluctuating between 215 and 209 metres (705 and 686 ft) below sea level (depending on rainfall). It is approximately 53 km (33 mi) in circumference, about 21 km (13 mi) long, and 13 km (8 mi) wide. Its area is 166.7 km2 (64.4 sq mi) at its fullest, and its maximum depth is approximately 43 metres (141 ft). The lake is fed partly by underground springs, but its main source is the Jordan River, which flows through it from north to south with the outflow controlled by the Degania Dam.
Geography
The Sea of Galilee is situated in northeast Israel, between the Golan Heights and the Galilee region, in the Jordan Rift Valley, formed by the relative motion of the African and Arabian plates. Consequently, the area is subject to earthquakes, and in the past, volcanic activity. This is evident from the abundant basalt and other igneous rocks that define the geology of Galilee.
Names
The modern Hebrew name Kineret comes from the Hebrew Bible, where it appears as the "sea of Kineret" in Numbers 34:11 and Joshua 13:27, and spelled כנרות "Kinerot" in Hebrew in Joshua 11:2. This name was also found in the scripts of Ugarit, in the Aqhat Epic.
The public source identifies “Sea of Galilee” as largest freshwater lake in Israel. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Galilee, largest and freshwater.
Why this record matters
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The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 31, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q126982. VIAF identifies the subject as 266999859. The Library of Congress control number is sh85135213. Authority coordinates are 32.819, 35.590. 1 of 5 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank.
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This entry incorporates text from “Sea of Galilee” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.