Lake Balaton, located in Hungary, is the largest lake in Central Europe. Since Hungary is landlocked, Lake Balaton is sometimes called the "Hungarian Sea". The Zala River provides the largest inflow of water to the lake, and the canalized Sió is the only outflow. It has also been referred to as "Europe's biggest puddle". This harsh, but accurate description of the body of water is based on the shallowness of its waters.
With a surface area of 592 km², Lake Balaton lies approximately on the coordinates
, and has a length of 77 km and a width ranging from 4 to 14 km. The lake's surface is 104 m above sea level, and its depth varies up to 12.2 m (mean depth is 3.2 m).