Lake OntarioThe smallest Great Lake by surface area
The smallest Great Lake sheet, but not the least water.
- Surface area
- 18,960 km²
- Water volume
- 1,640 km³
- Max depth
- 244 m
See its true size
One shared area scaleBoth outlines share one area scale. The bars compare water volume.
Reference data: Encyclopædia Britannica: jezioro Bajkał (2024).
Simplified outlines: Natural Earth (public domain), reprojected to one shared scale.
among the 18 lakes in this section
The reverse: despite a smaller sheet, Ontario holds over three times more water than the larger-area Erie, because it is four times deeper.
The map intuition
The smallest Great Lake, so the least water too.
About the lake
Ontario is the smallest of the five Great Lakes by area (18,960 km²), a compact oval below Niagara Falls, which separates it from Erie and bridges a 99 m drop in level.
Though smaller in area than Erie, Ontario is far deeper (86 m mean) and holds over three times more water: 1,640 km³ against Erie's 484 km³. It is the sharpest proof that depth decides volume.
- Mean depth
- 86 m
- Surface elevation
- 75 m a.s.l.
- Location
- USA / Canada
- Type
- glacial lake
Where the lake is
Lake Ontario: Questions
By area yes (18,960 km²). But by volume it beats Erie more than threefold because it is much deeper.
Niagara Falls and the Niagara River, which drop the 99 m difference in level between the two lakes.
About 1,640 km³ across 18,960 km². That exceeds the 484 km³ held by the larger Lake Erie.
Sources and data year
Outline: Natural Earth, public domain. Simplified and reprojected.