rolling hills and many lakes, the biggest and the best-known lake is Pühajärv. On the edge areas of the upland the difference between the edges is small but the relief is strongly differentiated. To the south-east of Valga Basin, Karula Hills can be seen heading from the west to the east. The eastern part of the hills has especially varied relief. Heading to the west, the relief becomes lower and changes into lower hills continuing in the Latvia. There are many lakes in Karula. The best-known lake is Karula Pikkjärv and it is located on the northern edge of Karula Hills. Hargla Basin is located in the southern part of the county. It is a mildly flat area between the uplands with some lonely moraine hills. The Valleys of Koiva River and Mustjõe River together with the Aheru Lake form a very picturesque area. The area of forest land of the county is almost 114,000 hectares, which forms 56.7% of the area of Valga County. Pine and spruce are the main species. Forests are differentiated by meadows, moorlands, everglades and bogs. 7,900 hectares of the total area are covered with bogs, of which 5,400 hectares are moorlands. The largest bogs are Rubina and Korva Bog. Lakes and rivers Valga County has many lakes. Most of them are located in Otepää Upland, on the area of Karula Hills and on the catchment area of Õhne River. There are more than 180 natural lakes with the area of more than one hectare and with the total area of 17 km2. The biggest lake is Pühjärv (286 ha), followed by Lake Aheru (234 ha). The southern part of Lake Võrtsjärv, with the area of 300 hectares, is also included within the borders of Valga County. Most of the lakes are quite shallow and not deeper than 10 m. The deepest lakes in the county are Udsu (30.2 m) and Petajärv (25 m), both located on the territory of Koorküla Lakes where the old valleys have been filled by the sediments from the Ice age. There are four official swimming places – the beach of Riiska Lake and Vanamõisa Lake in Tõrva, the beach of Lake Pühajärv in Otepää and the beach on the sides of Pedeli River in Valga. The fish fauna of the lakes is quite changeable as many fish die during cold winters because of shallow water. Species such as whitefish,