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Create AccountLake Winnipeg, 23,750 km2, elevation 217 m, estimated maximum depth 36 m, sixth-largest freshwater lake in Canada, is located in central Manitoba. Extending 416 km north-south, it drains approximately 984,200 km2 of land by way of the Saskatchewan, Red-Assiniboine and Winnipeg river systems. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)
This article is from our Toronto Feature series. Features from past programs are not updated.
Canada may be divided into seven physiographic regions. The Canadian Shield is the largest and oldest of these regions. The other six physiographic regions are younger and form two concentric rings around the Canadian Shield. The outer, older ring contains the Western Cordillera, Canadian Arctic and Appalachian Region. The second, younger ring contains the Interior Plains, Hudson Bay Lowlands and the St. Lawrence Lowlands. These regions may be further sub-divided based on their structure, relief and the presence or absence of permafrost and forest cover (see Natural Regions).
Areas quoted for these regions are the land areas and do not include adjacent continental shelves or bodies of ocean water within Canada's territorial limits. Readers should also note that the abbreviation “masl” stands for “metres above sea level.”
The following article is an editorial written by The Canadian Encyclopedia staff. Editorials are not usually updated.
When the first sod was turned near Cornwall, Ont., August 10, 1954, it was not so much the beginning of the great St Lawrence Seaway as a continuation of centuries of dreams.
FOSSIL bones were first discovered in 1978 in the rocks formed in the now vanished Haughton Lake.
Old Crow Basin is an important geographic feature in the natural history and human history of Canada
A forest region is a major geographic belt or zone characterized by a broad uniformity both in physiography and in the composition of the dominant tree species. Canada can be divided into eight forest regions.
The character of any coastline depends on a combination of factors, including topography, geology, availability of sediment, the prevailing processes of wind, wave, sea ice and tidal conditions, and longer term factors such as GLACIATION and changes in relative sea level.
With the Haida Gwaii, Vancouver Island forms part of a partially submerged chain of the Western Cordillera and is a continuation of the US coastal mountains.
Lake St. Clair, 1,114 km, elevation 175 m, average depth 3.7 m, is bordered by the province of Ontario to the east and the state of Michigan to the west. Almost circular in shape, it has a length of 42 km and a maximum width of 39 km. It is connected to Lake Huron to the north by the St. Clair River and drains into Lake Erie to the south via the Detroit River. Lake St. Clair is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway, a significant transportation route stretching from Lake Superior through the Great Lakes to the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The cities of Windsor, Ontario, and Detroit, Michigan, are located at the southwest end of the lake, making it a popular site for recreational fishing and boating.
The Northwest Passage is a sea corridor through Canada's Arctic archipelago and along the northern coast of North America. European explorers searched in vain for the passage for 300 years, intent on finding a commercially viable western sea route between Europe and Asia.
The Okanagan Valley is in south-central British Columbia, extending about 200 km north from the American border.
The South Saskatchewan River (1,392 km long) is a heavily utilized water source in southern Alberta and Saskatchewan and is a major tributary to the Saskatchewan River, ultimately discharging to Hudson Bay. Mean flow is 280 m3/s, but varies throughout the year, largely controlled by several dams and reservoirs along the river system. The South Saskatchewan River flows through an agriculturally productive region and is prone to periodic droughts and floods.
Tundra, which comes from a Sami word meaning “barren land,” refers to a treeless arctic region characterized by permafrost. Canada’s tundra is known for its freezing temperatures, lack of trees, low-growing vegetation and abundant rock outcrops. The southern boundary of tundra in Canada extends from the Mackenzie River delta to the southern reaches of Hudson Bay and northeast to the Labrador Peninsula. The term “alpine tundra” is often used to describe any area above the treeline in mountainous areas. But “alpine tundra” and “arctic tundra” are not interchangeable. (While the two regions share some similarities, the differences are significant.)
The Rocky Mountain Trench is a long and deep valley extending approximately 1,500 km from the Bitterroot Valley in northwest Montana through British Columbia to the Liard Plain just south of the Yukon Territory. Its predominantly flat floor is 3–20 km wide and ranges in elevation between 600 m and 1,000 m above sea level. With walls made of sedimentary, volcanic and igneous rock, the Trench is sometimes referred to as the “Valley of a Thousand Peaks” because of the towering mountain ranges on either side: the Rocky Mountains to the east and the Columbia, Omineca and Cassiar mountains to the west. Humans have relied on the rich resources provided by this distinctive landscape from pre-colonial times to the present.
The interplay of these ocean waters with freshwater runoff from land creates the conditions that support large biological production on Canada's continental shelves and embayments (see COASTAL LANDFORM; DRAINAGE BASIN).
Grosse Île is an island in the St. Lawrence Estuary, 46 km downstream from Quebec City. It is 2.9 km long and 1 km wide and consists of a wooded Appalachian ridge surrounded by a coastline of coves and capes. It is one of the 21 islands composing the Isle-aux-Grues archipelago. It has also been known as Île de Grâce and Quarantine Island. From 1832 to 1937, it was used as a quarantine station for the port of Quebec City. Over this century of activity, more than 4 million immigrants passed through this station, including nearly 90,000 during the “black year” of 1847. Closely tied to memories of Irish immigration to Canada, Grosse Île is a Canadian national historic site, administered by Parks Canada and open to the public.
Great Bear Lake is located in the Northwest Territories. With a surface area of 31,328 km2, Great Bear Lake is the largest lake located entirely inside Canadian borders. It is also the fourth largest in North America and the eighth largest in the world. Water flows out of the lake into the Great Bear River, then into the Mackenzie River. Other rivers connected to the lake include the Dease, Camsell and Johnny Hoe. Great Bear Lake is made up of five separate arms, each with their own names: Dease, McTavish, McVicar, Keith and Smith. (See also Largest Lakes in Canada.)
The Bow River runs through the most populated region of Alberta, intersecting cities such as Banff, Canmore, Cochrane and Calgary.
Baffin Island, Nunavut, 507,451 km2, 1,500 km long and 200–700 km wide, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world.
