Nettilling Lake

Where is Nettilling Lake?

Countries on its shores: Canada.

Middle of the lake: 66.48° N, 70.33° W

The story behind it

Nettilling Lake lies in the territory of Nunavut, about 280 km north-west of the town of Iqaluit. For most of the year its surface is frozen. Its name comes from Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit, and is linked to the word for an adult ringed seal. That fits, because ringed seals really do live in this freshwater lake! Arctic char and small fish called sticklebacks swim here too. The eastern half of the lake is dotted with many small islands, while the western half has none. On the tundra around the lake and further south, barren-ground caribou feed and give birth to their calves. Water flows in from Amadjuak Lake and leaves through the very shallow Koukdjuak River towards Foxe Basin. In 1884 the researcher Franz Boas explored the southern shore of the lake.

Find it on the globe

Nettilling 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.