Great Lakes

The Great Lakes (also called the Laurentian Great Lakes, or the Great Lakes of North America) are a series of interconnected freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada–United States border, which connect to the Atlantic Ocean through the Saint Lawrence River. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron (or Michigan–Huron), Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth, containing 21% of the world's surface fresh water by volume. The total surface is 94,250 square miles (244,106 km²), and the total volume (measured at the low water datum) is 5,439 cubic miles (22,671 km³). Due to their sea-like characteristics (rolling waves, sustained winds, strong currents, great depths, and distant horizons) the five Great Lakes have also long been referred to as inland seas. Lake Superior is the second largest lake in the world by area, and Lake Michigan is the largest lake that is entirely within one country. The southern half of the Great Lakes is surrounded by the Great Lakes Megalopolis.

African Great Lakes

The African Great Lakes (Swahili: Maziwa Makuu) are a series of lakes constituting the part of the Rift Valley lakes in and around the East African Rift. They include Lake Victoria, the third largest fresh water lake in the world by area, and Lake Tanganyika, the world's second largest lake by volume and depth.

The large rift lakes of Africa are the ancient home of great biodiversity; 10 percent of the world's fish species are found there. Lakes Victoria, Tanganyika, and Malawi hold a quarter of the planet's freshwater supply.

Countries in the African Great Lakes region (sometimes also called Greater Lakes region) include Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

Catchments

The African Great Lakes are divided among three different catchments (river basins); a number, such as Lake Turkana, also have internal drainage systems. The following, in order of size from largest to smallest, are included on most lists of the African Great Lakes:

Great Lakes (disambiguation)

The Great Lakes are a collection of large lakes in eastern North America.

Great Lakes or Great Lake may also refer to:

Lakes

Other uses

North America

North America is a continent entirely within the Northern Hemisphere and almost all within the Western Hemisphere. It can also be considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the west and south by the Pacific Ocean, and to the southeast by South America and the Caribbean Sea.

North America covers an area of about 24,709,000 square kilometers (9,540,000 square miles), about 16.5% of the earth's land area and about 4.8% of its total surface. North America is the third largest continent by area, following Asia and Africa, and the fourth by population after Asia, Africa, and Europe.

In 2013, its population was estimated at nearly 565 million people in 23 independent states, or about 7.5% of the world's population, if nearby islands (most notably the Caribbean) are included.

North America was reached by its first human populations during the last glacial period, via crossing the Bering land bridge. The so-called Paleo-Indian period is taken to have lasted until about 10,000 years ago (the beginning of the Archaic or Meso-Indian period). The Classic stage spans roughly the 6th to 13th centuries. The Pre-Columbian era ended with the arrival of European settlers during the Age of Discovery and the Early Modern period. Present-day cultural and ethnic patterns reflect different kind of interactions between European colonists, indigenous peoples, African slaves and their descendants. European influences are strongest in the northern parts of the continent while indigenous and African influences are relatively stronger in the south. Because of the history of colonialism, most North Americans speak English, Spanish or French and societies and states commonly reflect Western traditions.

North American (disambiguation)

North American describes any entity, people, group, or attribute of North America, especially of Mexico, United States, and Canada together.

North American may also refer to:

Culture

Institutions

Media

See also

North American Plate

The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Greenland, Cuba, the Bahamas, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. It extends eastward to the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and westward to the Chersky Range in eastern Siberia. The plate includes both continental and oceanic crust. The interior of the main continental landmass includes an extensive granitic core called a craton. Along most of the edges of this craton are fragments of crustal material called terranes, accreted to the craton by tectonic actions over the long span of geologic time. It is thought that much of North America west of the Rocky Mountains is composed of such terranes.

Boundaries

The southerly boundary with the Cocos Plate to the west and the Caribbean Plate to the east is a transform fault, represented by the Cayman Trench under the Caribbean Sea and the Motagua Fault through Guatemala. The parallel Septentrional and Enriquillo-Plantain Garden faults, which run through the island of Hispaniola and bound the Gonâve Microplate, are also a part of the boundary. The rest of the southerly margin which extends east to the Mid Atlantic Ridge and marks the boundary between the North American Plate and the South American Plate remains poorly understood and undefined.

Great Lakes (band)

Great Lakes is an American rock band formed in Athens, Georgia, in 1996. They have been based out of Brooklyn since 2002. The group's original lineup consisted of Ben Crum, James Huggins and Dan Donahue. Huggins' involvement dwindled over time, and Donahue and Crum split acrimoniously in 2008. Crum is the only original member remaining, and he continues to perform and record as Great Lakes, with various supporting members. Donahue and Huggins are both currently releasing new material with various groups as well as their principle songwriting outlets, Dream Boat and James Husband respectively. Donahue has contributed lyrics to several other bands' albums, including Of Montreal's City Bird, Elf Power's The Taking Under, and Bear In Heaven's Space Remains. Donahue has designed art, album covers, and videos for the bands MGMT, Pavement, Belle and Sebastian, and R.E.M.

History

Formation

The group started as a songwriting partnership between Dan Donahue and Ben Crum. With James Huggins III, the band officially formed in 1996. The original lineup also included bassist/vocalist Craig Ceravolo and performed one show at The Nick in Birmingham, Alabama, under the name Cherry Valence (not to be confused with The Cherry Valence). For a time the band was also called Wheelie Ride, before it changed to Great Lakes.