Canada contains approximately 60% of the world's lakes, with an estimated 2 million lakes scattered across its landscape. It also holds the largest area of intact forest remaining on Earth.
Canada: The Land of Two Million Lakes
If you've ever flown over Canada, you've probably noticed something striking: the ground below looks like someone spilled water everywhere. That's because Canada is absolutely loaded with lakes—an estimated 2 million of them, accounting for roughly 60% of all the lakes on Earth.
Let that sink in. One country holds more than half of the world's lakes.
Why So Many Lakes?
You can thank the last Ice Age for Canada's watery abundance. When massive glaciers retreated around 10,000 years ago, they carved out millions of depressions in the landscape. These basins filled with meltwater, creating the lake-dotted terrain we see today.
The Canadian Shield—a vast geological formation covering nearly half the country—is particularly lake-rich. This ancient bedrock provides the perfect bowl-shaped basins for holding water.
The Numbers Are Staggering
Canada's lake statistics read like someone made them up:
- 2 million lakes larger than a pond
- 563 lakes larger than 100 square kilometers
- 20% of the world's freshwater sits within Canadian borders
- The country has more lake area than any other nation
The Great Lakes alone—shared with the United States—contain about 21% of the world's surface freshwater. Lake Superior is so massive it could cover both England and Wales with water to spare.
Forest Giants
Canada's aquatic dominance is matched by its forests. While Russia technically has more total forest area, Canada holds the distinction of having the largest intact forest remaining on the planet—the Boreal Forest.
Stretching across 1.2 billion acres, this vast wilderness stores enormous amounts of carbon and serves as one of Earth's most important ecosystems. Much of it remains untouched by industrial development, making it increasingly rare in our modern world.
A Freshwater Superpower
This combination of lakes and forests creates something remarkable. Canada's watersheds act as giant natural filtration systems, producing some of the cleanest freshwater on Earth. The boreal region alone contains more surface freshwater than anywhere else.
For a country with only 40 million people spread across the second-largest landmass on Earth, that's an extraordinary amount of natural wealth. Canadians have roughly 100,000 cubic meters of renewable freshwater per person—among the highest rates globally.
Next time someone asks what makes Canada special, the answer might just be water. Lots and lots of water.