THE GREAT LAKES

Compiled by Chilman Sahni

The Great Lakes are a group of five freshwater lakes in North America on the border between the USA and Canada. Lake Superior is so called not because it is the largest, but because it is higher upstream than the others. Lake Huron takes its name from the name French settlers gave to a local Indian tribe (from hure, a boar’s head). No one knows where the name Michigan comes from, but Lake Erie and Lake Ontorio are both from the Iroquois language. Erie means cat, the animal the tribe used as its symbol. Ontario simply means beautiful lake.

                           LAKE                                                LOCATION                                            AREA (sq km)

• Superior                                         Canada/USA                                                    82,414
• Huron                                              Canada/USA                                                   59,596             
• Michigan                                         USA                                                                   58,016
• Erie                                                   Canada/USA                                                   25,719 
• Ontario                                             Canada/USA                                                  19,477

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