Dubawnt Lake

Where is Dubawnt Lake?

Countries on its shores: Canada.

Middle of the lake: 63.07° N, 101.70° W

The story behind it

Dubawnt Lake lies in the far north of Canada, about 480 km west of Hudson Bay. It is one of the biggest lakes in North America, yet there is no village on its shores. Ice stays on the lake until long into summer, and it is free of ice for only about two months a year. The Dubawnt River, 874 km long, flows through the lake and later joins the Thelon River, which carries the water on to Hudson Bay. In 1770 the explorer Samuel Hearne came here, and in 1893 Joseph Tyrrell paddled all the way from Lake Athabasca down the Dubawnt River. The Ihalmiut, a group of Caribou Inuit, lived in this region, where big herds of caribou roam. Wolves, foxes and birds of prey live here too – and swarms of blackflies in summer. The whole northern shore belongs to the Thelon Game Sanctuary, a protected area for wildlife.

Find it on the globe

Dubawnt Lake is there as a small blue dot with its name, right on the water. From far away the planet is only a blue ball; detail arrives as you zoom in, and this one appears once you are close enough. Open it on the globe.

It sits at its real coordinates, not near them — the same numbers listed in the facts above. Switch off the layer for this kind of place and it disappears again; the buttons for that are down the right-hand edge.