Bear Lake, GREAT, in the north-west of Canada, in 65°-67° N. lat., and 117°-123° W. long., is the most northerly of that series of fresh-water seas—Huron, Superior, Winnipeg, Athabasca, Great Slave, Great Bear—which mark a continuous depression in the middle of the continent. Lying 246 feet above sea-level, Great Bear Lake is irregular in shape, with a surface estimated at 7012 sq. m., or not much smaller than Wales. It sends forth a river of its own name to the
Mackenzie. As the Arctic circle passes over it, the climate is severe.