Saint Lawrence River
Map of the St. Lawrence/Great Lakes Watershed
Origin	Lake Ontario
Mouth	Gulf of Saint Lawrence/Atlantic Ocean
Basin countries	Canada (Ontario, Quebec) United States (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Vermont, Wisconsin)
Length	1,197 km (744 mi)
Source elevation	250 m (820 ft)
Avg. Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Gulf of Saint Lawrence (French golfe du Saint-Laurent) the world's largest Estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint A drainage basin is an extent of Land where Water from Rain or Snow melt drains downhill into a body of water such as a River, Country to "Dominion of Canada" or "Canadian Federation" or anything else please read the Talk Page Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The State of Illinois ( roughly ill-i-NOY is a state of the United States of America, the 21st to be admitted to the Union. The State of Indiana ( was the 19th US state admitted into the union Michigan ( is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous Ohio ( is a Midwestern state of the United States. As part of the Great Lakes region, Ohio has long been a cultural and geographical crossroads The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania ( often colloquially referred to as PA (its abbreviation by natives and Northeasterners is a state located in the Northeastern Vermont ( is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States of America. Wisconsin ( or wɪˈskɑnsɨn (French Ouisconsin) is one of the fifty United States of America, located in the north central part of the United States discharge	10,400 m³/s (367,328 cu ft/s)
Basin area	1,030,000 km² (397,683 sq mi)

The Saint Lawrence River (In French: fleuve Saint-Laurent; Kahnawáˀkye^[1] in Tuscarora, Kaniatarowanenneh ("big waterway") in Mohawk) is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. In Hydrology, the discharge or outflow of a River is the volume of Water transported by it in a certain amount of time French ( français,) is a Romance language spoken around the world by 118 million people as a native language and by about 180 to 260 million people Tuscarora, sometimes called Skarure(h/ʔ, is an Iroquoian language of the Tuscarora people, spoken in southern Ontario, Canada This article is about the language spoken by the Mohawk people for other uses see Mohawk. "Riverine" redirects here For the use of that term in Maritime geography, see there The Laurentian Great Lakes are a chain of freshwater lakes located in eastern North America, on the Canada–United States border. It is the primary drainage of the Great Lakes Basin. The Great Lakes Basin consists of the Great Lakes and the surrounding lands of the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota It traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and forms part of the international boundary between Ontario, Canada, and the U.S. state of New York. The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country in total area. Quebec (kwɨˈbɛk Ontario (ɒnˈtɛrioʊ is a province located in the central part of Canada, the largest by population and second largest after Quebec The Canada – United States border is the international Border between Canada and the United States. A US state is any one of the fifty subnational entities of the United States of America that share Sovereignty with the federal government New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous

Geography

The Saint Lawrence River originates at the outflow of Lake Ontario between Kingston, Ontario on the north bank, Wolfe Island in mid-stream, and Cape Vincent, New York on the south bank. Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St Cape Vincent New York may refer to Cape Vincent (town New York Cape Vincent (village New York

From there, it passes Gananoque, Brockville, Ogdensburg, Massena, Cornwall, Montreal, Trois-Rivières, and Quebec City before draining into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the largest estuary in the world. Gananoque is a town in Leeds and Grenville County Ontario, located at 44°19′55″ North 76°9′44″ West Ogdensburg is a City in St Lawrence County, New York, United States. There are two places named Massena in St Lawrence County in the U Cornwall is a City in eastern Ontario, Canada and the seat of the United Counties of Stormont Dundas and Glengarry Ontario. Montreal, or Montréal in French ( pronounced in French, in English) is the largest city in the Canadian province of Quebec Trois-Rivières is a City in the Mauricie region of Quebec, Canada, located along the densely populated Quebec City-Windsor Corridor Quebec City ( French: Ville de Québec, or simply Québec) (kwɨˈbɛk or /keˈbɛk/ is the Capital of the Canadian province Gulf of Saint Lawrence (French golfe du Saint-Laurent) the world's largest Estuary, is the outlet of North America's Great Lakes via the Saint An estuary is a semi-enclosed Coastal body of Water with one or more Rivers or Streams flowing into it and with a free connection to the open It runs 3,058 kilometres (1,900 mi) from the furthest headwater to the mouth (1,197 kilometres or 744 mi from the outflow of Lake Ontario). The furthest headwater is the North River in the Mesabi Range at Hibbing, Minnesota. The North River is a river approximately 6 Miles (96 Km) long in northeastern Minnesota, the United States. The Mesabi Iron Range is a vast deposit of Iron ore and the largest of four major iron ranges in the region collectively known as the Iron Range of Minnesota Hibbing is a city in St Louis County, Minnesota, USA. The population was 17071 at the 2000 census. Minnesota ( Native Americans demonstrated the name to early settlers Its drainage area, which includes the Great Lakes and hence the world's largest system of fresh water lakes, has a size of 1. 03 million km² (390,000 sq mi). Square Kilometre ( US spelling square kilometer) symbol km2, is a decimal multiple of the SI unit of The square mile is an imperial and US unit of Area equal the area of a square of one statute mile. The average discharge at the mouth is 10,400 m³/s (367,000 cu ft/s). CM3 redirects here If you were looking for the 3rd game in the Cooking Mama series abbreviated as CM3 see here. The second ( SI symbol s) sometimes abbreviated sec, is the name of a unit of Time, and is the International System of Units The cubic foot is an imperial and US customary (non- metric) unit of Volume, used in the United States Canada and the United Kingdom

The river includes Lake Saint-Louis south of Montreal, Lac Saint-François at Salaberry-de-Valleyfield and Lac Saint-Pierre east of Montreal. Lake Saint-Louis, or in French fr Lac Saint-Louis, is a Lake in extreme southwestern Quebec, Canada, adjoining the Lac Saint-François (Lake Saint Francis is a Lake which borders southeastern Ontario, southwestern Quebec and northern New York State. Salaberry-de-Valleyfield is a city in southwestern Quebec, in the Regional County Municipality of Beauharnois-Salaberry. Lac Saint-Pierre is a Lake and Nature reserve in Quebec, Canada. It encompasses three archipelagoes: the Thousand Islands chain near Kingston, Ontario; the Hochelaga Archipelago, including the Island of Montreal and Île Jésus (Laval); and the smaller Mingan Archipelago. An archipelago (ɑrkəˈpɛləgoʊ is a chain or cluster of Islands The word archipelago literally means "chief Sea " from Italian The Thousand Islands is the name of an archipelago of Islands that straddle the U Kingston Ontario is a Canadian city located at the eastern end of Lake Ontario, where the lake runs into the St The Hochelaga Archipelago, also known as the Montreal Islands (French archipel d'Hochelaga) is a group of islands at the Confluence of the Saint Île Jésus ( French for Jesus Island) is an Island in southwestern Quebec, separated from the mainland to the north by the Laval ( IPA læˈvæl is a City and a region in southwestern Quebec, Canada, in the Greater Montreal Area. The Mingan Archipelago is an Archipelago located east of Quebec, Canada. Other islands include Île d'Orléans near Québec City, and Anticosti Island north of the Gaspé. Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about 20 km to the east of Quebec City 's downtown Quebec, Canada.

Lake Champlain and the Ottawa, Richelieu, and Saguenay rivers drain into the St. Lake Champlain (French lac Champlain) is a natural freshwater Lake in North America, located mainly within the borders of the United States This is about the river in Canada For other uses see Ottawa River (disambiguation. The Richelieu River is a river in Quebec, Canada. It flows from Lake Champlain about 171 km (106 miles north ending into the St The Saguenay River (French rivière Saguenay) is a major River of Quebec, Canada. Lawrence.

The Saint Lawrence River is in a seismically active zone where fault reactivation is believed to occur along late Proterozoic to early Paleozoic normal faults related to the opening of Iapetus Ocean. In Geology a fault, or fault line, is a planar rock fracture which shows evidence of relative movement The Proterozoic (ˌproʊtərəˈzoʊɪk is a geological eon representing a period before the first abundant complex life on Earth. The Paleozoic or Palaeozoic Era (from the Greek palaio (παλαιο "old" and zoe (ζωη "life" meaning "ancient life" The Iapetus Ocean was an Ocean that existed in the Southern Hemisphere between Laurentia ( Scotland and North America) and Baltica The faults in the area are rift related, which is called the Saint Lawrence rift system. In Geology, a rift is a place where the Earth 's crust and Lithosphere are being pulled apart and is an example of Extensional tectonics The Saint Lawrence rift system is a seismically active zone paralleling the Saint Lawrence River.

The Saint Lawrence Valley is a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian division, containing the Champlain and Northern physiographic section. The physiographic regions of the world are a means of defining the Earth's landforms into distinct regions based upon Nevin Fenneman 's classic three-tiered approach of divisions The Appalachian Mountains ( often called the Appalachians, are a vast system of mountains in eastern North America. The Champlain Valley is a region of the United States around Lake Champlain in Vermont and New York. ^[2]

Saint Lawrence River between Quebec City (seen at left) and Lévis (seen at right). Quebec City ( French: Ville de Québec, or simply Québec) (kwɨˈbɛk or /keˈbɛk/ is the Capital of the Canadian province Lévis (officially Ville de Lévis (City of Lévis) is a city in eastern Quebec, Canada. The Île d'Orléans appears further in the centre. Île d'Orléans is located in the Saint Lawrence River about 20 km to the east of Quebec City 's downtown Quebec, Canada.

History

The St. Lawrence estuary was visited by many navigators (such as John Cabot and Miguel Corte-Real) and Basque fishermen soon after the discovery of America (or perhaps even before, see Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact#Late contact claims). Giovanni Caboto ( c 1450 - c 1498 known in English as John Cabot, was an Italian Navigator and explorer commonly credited as the Miguel Corte-Real (miˈgɛɫ ˈkoɾtɨ ʁiˈaɫ (c 1448 &ndash 1502? was a 15th century Portuguese explorer. Pre-Columbian trans-oceanic contact describes alleged interactions between the Indigenous peoples of the Americas and peoples of other continents – Africa, But the first known European explorer to sail the inland part of the St. Lawrence was Jacques Cartier, during his second trip to Canada in 1535, with the help of Iroquoian chief Donnacona's two sons. Jacques Cartier (December 31 1491&ndashSeptember 1 1557 was a French explorer who claimed what is now Canada for France As he arrived in the estuary on St. Lawrence' feast day, Cartier accordingly named it the Gulf of St. Lawrence. ^[3] The land along the river was inhabited at the time by the St. Lawrence Iroquoians. The St Lawrence Iroquoians lived until the late 16th century along the shores of the St

Map of 1543 showing Cartier's discoveries.

Until the early 1600s, the French used the name Rivière du Canada to designate the Saint Lawrence upstream to Montreal and the Ottawa River after Montreal. The Saint Lawrence River served as the main route for European exploration of the North American interior, first pioneered by French explorer Samuel de Champlain. Samuel de Champlain (c 1575 - 25 December 1635) "The Father of New France " was a French navigator geographer cartographer

The St. Lawrence was formerly continuously navigable only as far as Montreal because of the virtually impassible Lachine Rapids. The Lachine Rapids are a series of Rapids on the Saint Lawrence River, between the Island of Montreal and the south shore The Lachine Canal was the first to allow ships to pass the rapids; the Saint Lawrence Seaway, an extensive system of canals and locks, now permits ocean-going vessels to pass all the way to Lake Superior. The Lachine Canal ( Canal de Lachine in French) is a Canal passing through the southwestern part of the Island of Montreal, Quebec, The St Lawrence Seaway is the common name for a system of Canals that permits ocean-going vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. The Seaway was officially opened on 26 June 1959 by Queen Elizabeth II (representing Canada) and President Dwight D. Eisenhower (representing the United States of America). For the ship see RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary Context States headed by Elizabeth II Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (October 14 1890 – March 28 1969 was President of the United States from 1953 until 1961 and a five-star general

In the late 1970s, the river was the subject of a successful ecological campaign (called "Save the River"), originally responding to planned development by the United States Army Corps of Engineers. The United States Army Corps of Engineers ( USACE) is a federal agency and a major Army command made up of some 34600 Civilian and 650 Military personnel The campaign was organized, among others, by Abbie Hoffman, then on the run under the pseudonym of Barry Freed. Abbot Howard "Abbie" Hoffman (November 30 1936 &ndash April 12 1989 was a radical social and political activist in the United States who co-founded the

Names

Saint Lawrence River along the New York-Ontario border

Occasionally, the French name fleuve Saint-Laurent is wrongly translated as Saint Lawrence seaway since it uses the word fleuve and not rivière. However, the word fleuve means a large river, which runs to the ocean or sea. There is no word in English that distinguishes this type of a river from others, and thus is appropriately translated by river. The seaway is a system of artificial canals and is called in French la voie maritime du Saint-Laurent.

The source of the North River in the Mesabi Range in Minnesota is considered to be the source of the Saint Lawrence River. Because it crosses so many lakes, the water system frequently changes its name. From source to mouth, the names are:

• North River
• Saint Louis River
• Lake Superior
• Saint Marys River
• Lake Huron
• Saint Clair River
• Lake Saint Clair
• Detroit River
• Lake Erie
• Niagara River
• Lake Ontario
• Saint Lawrence River

Literature

The St. The North River is a river approximately 6 Miles (96 Km) long in northeastern Minnesota, the United States. The St Louis River is a river in the US State of Minnesota that flows into Lake Superior. Lake Superior is the largest of the five Great Lakes of North America. The St Marys River ( French: rivière Sainte-Marie) sometimes written as the St Lake Huron, bounded on the west by the US state of Michigan, and on the east by the province of Ontario, Canada, is one of the five Great Navigation on St Clair Riverjpg|thumb|250px|Great Lakes Freighters navigating on the lower St Lake St Clair ( French Lac Sainte-Claire) is a Lake that lies between Ontario, Canada, and Michigan in the The Detroit River is a river in the Great Lakes system about 32 miles (51 km long and 0 Lake Erie (ˈɪəriː is the fourth largest Lake (by surface area of the five Great Lakes, and the tenth largest globally The Niagara River flows to the north from Lake Erie to Lake Ontario. Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. Lawrence River is at the heart of many Quebec novels (Anne Hébert's Kamouraska, Réjean Ducharme's L'avalée des avalés), poems (in works of Pierre Morency, Bernard Pozier), and songs (Leonard Cohen's Suzanne, Michel Rivard's L'oubli). Anne Hébert, OQ (an eˈbɛʀ in French ( August 1, 1916 - January 22, 2000) was a Canadian Author and Kamouraska is a novel written by Anne Hébert and published in 1970 Réjean Ducharme (born August 12 1941) is a Quebec Novelist and Playwright who currently resides in Montreal. Pierre Morency (born 1942 is a French Canadian writer poet and playwright Leonard Norman Cohen CC GOQ (born September 21, 1934 in Westmount, Quebec) is a Canadian Singer-songwriter " Suzanne " is a song written by Canadian Poet and Musician Leonard Cohen. The river has also been portrayed in paintings, notably by the Group of Seven. The Group of Seven was a group of Canadian landscape painters in the 1920s originally consisting of Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris In addition, the river is the namesake of Saint-Laurent Herald at the Canadian Heraldic Authority. Saint-Laurent Herald of Arms ( Héraut Saint-Laurent in French) is the title of one of the officers of arms at the Canadian Heraldic Authority The Canadian Heraldic Authority (Autorité héraldique du Canada is part of the Canadian honours system under the Governor General of Canada.

References

See also

External links

• Regional Geography of the St. Lawrence River
• St. Lawrence Parks Commission (Ontario)
• Great Lakes St. Lawrence Seaway System
• Safe Passage: Aids to Navigation on the St. Lawrence — Historical essay, illustrated with drawings and photographs
• Annotated Bibliography on St. Lawrence County and Northern New York region.
• "Save the River"
• International Saint Lawrence River Board of Control
• Saint Lawrence River from The Canadian Encyclopedia
• Saint Lawrence River Cam