Imandra, Glacial lake in Murmansk Oblast, Russia

Imandra is a lake in the south-western Kola Peninsula, Murmansk Oblast, lying 127 m above sea level. It splits into three parts joined by narrow straits: Greater (Khibinskaya) Imandra in the north, Ekostrovskaya Imandra in the centre and Babinskaya Imandra in the west. Its 140-plus islands include Erm Island, 26 km². Maximum depth is 67 m.

In 1915, goods, food and equipment for the construction of the Murmansk Railway were carried across Lake Imandra. For several years in the 1930s, before a rail branch reached Monchegorsk, ferries crossed the lake from Monchegorsk to Tik-Guba, today's Apatity, on the main line. The Niva River hydroelectric cascade later turned the lake into a reservoir with multi-year regulation.

The lake's name comes from the Skolt Sami Âʹvverjäuʹrr. Molochka Bay in Babinskaya Imandra never freezes, warmed by cooling water discharged from the Kola Nuclear Power Plant through a canal; it is used for breeding valuable fish and is a popular swimming spot for residents of Apatity, Monchegorsk, Polyarnye Zori and Kandalaksha. Every April an international 100-km supermarathon is raced on the ice under kites and other winter sails.

This lake is accessible from the cities of Monchegorsk, Apatity, and Polyarnye Zori, which serve as starting points along the shoreline. Summer months provide the most stable conditions for visiting, while winter transforms the entire landscape and restricts access.

Water from this glacial body flows through the Niva River into the Kandalaksha Gulf of the White Sea, forming a continuous natural waterway. This connection to the Arctic was once a vital passageway for local transport and trade.