Great Lakes

The Great Lakes are five interconnected freshwater lakes on the United States–Canada border: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. Together they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by surface area.

Lake Superior: The largest and deepest of the five Great Lakes, draining east through the St. Marys River. It is the system’s largest lake and its westernmost starting point.
Straits of Mackinac: The channel connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron between Michigan’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas. This narrow passage makes Michigan and Huron one connected water body.
Great Lakes shipping: Commercial transport of cargo across the Great Lakes and their connecting waterways. Ships move bulk goods between inland ports and the Atlantic route.
Great Lakes fishery: The commercial, recreational, and subsistence fishing activity supported by Great Lakes fish populations. Fishing has long shaped local economies and lake management.
Laurentide Ice Sheet: A vast ice sheet that covered much of Canada and the northern United States during the last glacial period. Its advance and retreat carved and reshaped the basins holding the lakes.
Lake Michigan: The only Great Lake located entirely within the United States. It joins Lake Huron through the Straits of Mackinac.
St. Marys River: The river channel through which water flows from Lake Superior to Lake Huron. It carries the system’s first major eastward outflow.
Great Lakes Waterway: The connected system of lakes, rivers, canals, and locks that permits navigation across the Great Lakes basin. Its engineered passages let vessels bypass natural barriers between lakes.
Invasive species in the Great Lakes: Non-native organisms established in the Great Lakes, often disrupting food webs and ecosystems. Shipping and canals have enabled harmful species to enter the lakes.
Glacial lake: A lake formed or enlarged through the action of glaciers or meltwater. The Great Lakes are large remnants of landscapes formed by glaciation.

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