WORLD
Great Bear Lake – 8th largest lake in world
Baku, May 13, AZERTAC
Great Bear Lake is located in northern Fort Smith region and southeastern Inuvik region, Northwest Territories, Canada, lying astride the Arctic Circle.
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 Mackenzia 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.
The lake’s cold, clear waters abound with fish, notably the speckled trout. The localities of Echo and Sawmill bays on the eastern shore and the trading post of Fort Franklin on the west are the lake’s main settlements.
The rivers surrounding Great Bear Lake drain nutrient-poor lands, which, combined with a small watershed, colder temperatures and considerable depth (at its deepest point, Great Bear Lake reaches 452 metres), mean the lake supports relatively few plant and fish species. Of Canada’s large lakes, Great Bear Lake has the fewest number of different fish species (only 16). Because the fish do not migrate much within the lake, its five arms are home to unique populations.