Canada has the world’s largest number of natural lakes, including much of Lake Superior.
Canada contains more lakes than any other country, with estimates commonly placing the number of lakes larger than 0.1 square kilometres at roughly 879,000. Glaciers repeatedly scoured the country’s landscape during the ice ages, leaving countless basins that later filled with meltwater and precipitation. Canada also contains portions of several Great Lakes, including Lake Superior, Lake Huron, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario.
Lake Superior is shared by Canada and the United States, so it is not wholly Canadian. Canada’s lake count includes enormous bodies of water and very small natural lakes, and totals vary according to the minimum size used by researchers. Other countries famous for lakes, such as Finland and Russia, have large totals, but Canada’s combination of area and glacial terrain gives it the leading count.