Canada contains more lakes than any other country.
Canada has an estimated 879,800 lakes larger than 10 hectares, and about 9% of its total area is covered by freshwater. Glacial erosion during the last ice age carved countless basins across the Canadian Shield, leaving the landscape filled with lakes, ponds and wetlands.
Canada contains several of the world’s largest freshwater lakes, including Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake. Some are shared with the United States, while Great Bear Lake and Great Slave Lake lie entirely within Canada.
Finland is often called the “land of a thousand lakes,” but that phrase is a cultural nickname rather than a claim that it has the most lakes. Russia also has an enormous number of lakes, including Lake Baikal, yet Canada leads in total lake count under commonly cited geographic estimates.