Lake Superior

Lake Superior (English: Lake Superior; French: Lac Supérieur) is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America, as well as the second largest inland body of water on Earth by area after the Caspian Sea, and thus the largest freshwater lake by area (the deepest and largest freshwater lake by volume is Lake Baikal in Siberia).

The border between Canada and the United States runs through Lake Superior. Its water level is 184 m with a total area of 82,103 km² (about the size of Austria). Its greatest depth is 406 m, from the northernmost point to the southernmost the distance is 290.2 km, and the greatest east-west extent is 599.6 km. Lake Superior is bordered on the north by the province of Ontario in Canada (Canadian lake portion 29,847 km², American lake portion 52,256 km²) and the U.S. state of Minnesota, and on the south by the U.S. states of Wisconsin and Michigan. The largest island in the lake is Isle Royale, and the Keweenaw Peninsula juts far into the lake from the south.

Lake Superior is the Great Lake with the best water quality because, unlike the other lakes, few industrial facilities are located on its shore and it is not fed by the other lakes.

The lake has over 200 tributaries. The largest are the Nipigon River, the Saint Louis River, the Pigeon River, the Pic River, the White River, the Michipicoten River and the Kaministiquia River.

Lake Superior drains into Lake Huron via the Saint Marys River, making it part of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The rapids on this river require locks, the Soo Locks at Sault Ste. Marie, to allow ships to negotiate the eight-metre difference in elevation to Lake Huron.

Name

In the language of the Anishinabe (also Ojibwa or Chippewa Indians) the lake is called "Gichigami" ("big water"). It is further known as the "Gitche Gumee", as for example in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's 1855 epic, The Song of Hiawatha and Gordon Lightfoot's ballad "The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald", which is about the sinking of the Edmund Fitzgerald on Lake Superior in November 1975. The lake was named "le lac supérieur" (Lake Superior) by French explorers in the 17th century because it is located above Lake Huron.

History

Lake Superior was already an important transportation route for the native Indian population; the Pigeon River and the Kaministiquia River, two rivers that served as routes into the interior of what is now Canada, flow into it on the northwest shore. The first whites were French fur traders who were shown these connections by the Indians. The so-called Grand Portage on the Pigeon River was developed into a trading post, and the North West Company, founded by French traders in 1783, established a fortified camp there, where they moved their headquarters during the summer months. The reconstructed base is now designated as Grand Portage National Monument.

In the 19th century mining settlements developed around the lake, especially iron ore was mined and transported by ship across the lake. Today, Duluth is the inland port with the highest turnover in the United States; hard coal and iron ore are the most important goods.