Lake Lanier is a reservoir in the northern portion of the U.S. state of Georgia. It was created by the completion of Buford Dam on the Chattahoochee River in 1956, and is also fed by the waters of the Chestatee River. The lake encompasses 38,000 acres or 59 sq mi of water, and 692 mi of shoreline at normal level, a "full pool" of 1,071 ft above mean sea level and the exact shoreline varies by resolution according to the coastline paradox.