General overview of the Prespa basin

Описание: The area of Prespa is shared by three countries, Greece, Albania and North Macedonia. When we talk about Prespa we are actually referring to the two lakes, Lesser and Great Prespa, as well as their wider lake basin which extends to the tops of the mountains which surround them. The two lakes lie at an altitude of around 853m, though many of the surrounding peaks are more than 2000m above sea level. Lesser Prespa Lake belongs to Greece, except for its southernmost tip which lies in Albania. Great Prespa Lake is shared by the three countries, with the largest extent belonging to North Macedonia.

There are many reasons why Prespa has such special value; notable among them are the rich natural environment and evocative landscape, the birds, the traditional villages and the remarkable Byzantine monuments. Prespa’s most important characteristic, however, is that so many forms of life are concentrated in such a small geographical area. Some of the rare species that the area is home to are also endemic, appearing only in Prespa and nowhere else in the world. The extent of the diversity of the area is demonstrated by the fact that more than half the species of birds, amphibians and mammals found in Greece as a whole are encountered here in Prespa, and that 9 out of the 23 species of fish living in its lakes and rivers are endemic.