Lake Ontario

Lake Ontario
Niigaani-gichigami (Ojibwe)
Lake Ontario seen from the International Space Station on August 24, 2013. The cloudy yellowish substance is algae bloom.
Lake Ontario
Lake Ontario bathymetric map.[1][2][3] The deepest point is marked with "×".[4]
Location	North America
Group	Great Lakes
Coordinates	43°42′N 77°54′W / 43.7°N 77.9°W / 43.7; -77.9
Lake type	Glacial
Etymology	Ontarí:io, a Huron (Wyandot) word meaning "great lake"
Primary inflows	Niagara River
Primary outflows	St. Lawrence River
Catchment area	24,720 sq mi (64,000 km2)[5]
Basin countries	Canada and United States
Max. length	193 mi (311 km)[6]
Max. width	53 mi (85 km)[6]
Surface area	7,323 sq mi (18,970 km2)[5]
Average depth	283 ft (86 m)[6][7]
Max. depth	802 ft (244 m)[6][7]
Water volume	391.4 cu mi (1,631 km3)[6]
Residence time	6 years
Shore length1	634 mi (1,020 km) plus 78 mi (126 km) for islands[8]
Surface elevation	243 ft (74 m)[6]
Settlements	Toronto, Ontario Mississauga, Ontario Hamilton, Ontario Rochester, New York
References	[7]
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border spans the centre of the lake. On the Canadian side, the major cities are Kingston, Mississauga, Toronto, Hamilton, and St. Catharines. On the American side, the major cities are Rochester and Watertown.

The last in the Great Lakes chain, Lake Ontario serves as the outlet to the Atlantic Ocean via the Saint Lawrence River, comprising the western end of the Saint Lawrence Seaway. Its primary inlet is the Niagara River from Lake Erie. The Long Sault control dam, primarily along with the Moses-Saunders Power Dam regulates the water level of the lake.^[9]

The name Ontarí'io is most often translated from the Huron as "beautiful lake"^[10][11] but other translations exist.^[12]