West Lake is a famous fresh water lake located in the historic center of Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province. Hangzhou's fame is largely due to the picturesque West Lake. Lying in the west of the city, and surrounded by hills on three sides, the West Lake is 3.2 kilometres from north to south and 2.8 kilometres from east to west with a circumference of 15 kilometres. Its water surface encompasses 5.8 square kilometres, while the islands on the lake occupy 6.3 square kilometres. Its average depth of water is 1.55 metres, the shallowest is less than one metre deep, and the deepest being about 2.8 metres. Its storage capacity is between 8.5 million and 8.7 million cubic metres.