The Great Lakes

The Great Lakes and many resources of the Great Lakes basin have played a major role in the history and development of the United States and Canada. For the early European explorers and settlers, the lakes and their tributaries were the avenues for penetrating the continent, extracting valued resources, and carrying local products abroad. As development proceeded, the waterways became major highways of trade. The Great Lakes basin yielded lumber, wheat, and other agricultural products, and the lakes provided commercial fishing opportunities. Bulk goods such as iron ore and coal were shiped through Great Lakes ports, and manufacturing grew. , ♦ The Great Lakes are the largest system of fresh surface water on earth, containing roughly 20 percent of the world's available surface water. , ♦ Lake Superior has the largest area of any freshwater lake in the world. It is also the coldest and deepest of the five Great Lakes. Average depths are close to 500 feet, and the deepest point in the lake reaches 1,332 feet. , ♦ Lake Michigan is the sixth largest freshwater lake in the world, and the only Great Lake to lie entirely within U.S. borders. , ♦ Lake Huron has the longest shoreline of all the Great Lakes, and has the largest freshwater island in the world, Manitoulin Island. , ♦ Lake Ontario is the smallest of the Great Lakes by surface area, but its average depth (283 feet) is second only to Lake Superior. , The Great Lakes Drainage Basin. Image Source: Sea Grant, Michigan.