Great Lakes

Series of five freshwater lakes along the USA–Canadian border: Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario; total area 245,000 sq km/94,600 sq mi. Interconnected by a network of canals and rivers, the lakes are navigable by large ships, and they are connected with the Atlantic Ocean via the St Lawrence River and by the St Lawrence Seaway (completed in 1959), which is navigable by medium-sized ocean-going ships.

Physical
The Great Lakes are said to contain 20% of the world's surface fresh water, and drain a basin of approximately 751,100 sq km/290,000 sq mi.

Industries
Nickel, copper, gold, silver, cobalt, arsenic, bismuth, and pitchblende are found to the north of Lakes Huron and Superior, and rich forest lands on their Canadian shores have given rise to a large wood-pulp industry. The Niagara Falls are a valuable source of electric power both to the USA and to Canada. The lakes are ice-bound for some five months of the year, but are used for the rest of the year by bulk carriers known as ‘lakers’. The principal cargoes are iron ore and grain, both of which originate at Lake Superior ports. Iron ore is carried to other lake ports for transport to steel mills. Grain may be shipped to processing centres such as Buffalo, New York, or sent directly overseas.

Ports
The chief ports of the Great Lakes are Fort William, Port Arthur, Hamilton, Toronto, and Kingston in Canada; and Duluth, Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, Erie, Toledo, and Buffalo in the USA.