Georgian Bay

Geography, History and Aura

- Georgian Bay is one of the two largest bays on the Great Lakes


- Early explorers listed Georgian Bay as a separate sixth lake because it is nearly separated from the rest of Lake Huron by Manitoulin Island and the Bruce Peninsula


- Lake Huron is the second largest Great Lake by surface area and the fifth largest freshwater lake in the world


- It receives the flow from both Lake Superior and Lake Michigan


- It has the longest shoreline of the Great Lakes


- It holds some 30,000 islands


- Manitoulin Island is the largest freshwater island in the world


- Lake Huron was the first of the Great Lakes to be discovered by European explorers


- It was first visited in the 17th century by the French explorers Samuel de Champlain and Étienne Brûlé


- At the time of European contact the Ojibwe and Ottawa Indians lived along the north and eastern shores of Georgian Bay


- The Huron and Iroquois inhabited the lands to the south


- Georgian Bay was first charted in 1822 and was named after King George IV


- Penetanguishene, also located at the southern tip of the bay, was created as a British naval base in 1793

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