Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga Lake Ladoga ( or ; [earlier in Finnish "Nevajärvi"]; ; ) is a freshwater lake located in the Republic of Karelia and Leningrad Oblast in northwestern Russia, in the vicinity of Saint Petersburg. It is the largest lake entirely in Europe, and the 14th largest freshwater lake by area in the world. "Ladoga Lacus", a methane lake on Saturn's moon Titan, is named after the lake. In one of Nestor's chronicles from the 12th century he mentions a lake called "the Great Nevo", a clear link to the Neva River and, possibly furthermore, to Finnish "nevo" "sea" or
Ladoga seal five, and males at the age of six to seven. Pups are delivered in February through March, with weaning taking place after six to eight weeks. A normal lifespan is about 30–35 years. The current population is about 2,000–3,000, down from approximately 20,000 at the beginning of the 20th century, due to overhunting; hunting of the seals was banned entirely in 1980, but some illegal poaching still occurs. The species' primary threats include entanglement in fisheries netting, industrialization in the areas surrounding Lake Ladoga, fuel spills from water vessels and the disturbance of their warm-weather sunning places by human recreational