Lake Mistassini

Where is Lake Mistassini?

Countries on its shores: Canada.

Middle of the lake: 50.95° N, 73.70° W

The story behind it

Lake Mistassini lies in the north of Quebec, in Canada, 372 m above sea level. Together with its islands it covers about 2 335 km²; the open water alone covers about 2 164 km². In places it is 183 m deep. Its name comes from the Cree language and means “large rock”. It probably refers to a big boulder, about 3 m high, that glaciers carried there long ago. The Cree town of Mistissini lies in the south of the lake. Many rivers flow into Lake Mistassini, and the neighbouring Lake Albanel drains into it too. The water leaves the lake through the Rupert River, which flows to James Bay. Winters here are long and cold: the lake is usually frozen from November to June. Then the whole lake is covered by a white sheet of ice.

Find it on the globe

Lake Mistassini 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.