Lake of the Woods, scenic lake astride the Canadian–United States boundary where the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba and the U.S. state of Minnesota meet. Relatively shallow and irregular in shape, it is 70 miles (110 km) long and up to 60 miles (95 km) wide and has an area of 1,727 square miles (4,472 square km). The lake has an estimated 25,000 miles (40,000 km) of shoreline and more than 14,000 islands. Fed from the southeast by the Rainy River, the lake drains northwestward through the Winnipeg River into Lake Winnipeg. Its elevation is 1,060 feet (about 320 meters) above sea level, and the drainage area is 27,170 square miles (70,370 square km). Visited by the French explorer Jacques de Noyon in 1688, the lake later became an important fur-trading route between the Great Lakes and western Canada. It is now the site of four Ontario provincial parks. Kenora, at its northern end, is the chief lakeside city. Separated from the remainder of Minnesota by a part of the lake is the Northwest Angle (Lake of the Woods county), which is the northernmost point of the coterminous United States.

The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica This article was most recently revised and updated by Meg Matthias.
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Rainy Lake, narrow lake astride the Canadian-U.S. border, between the U.S. state of Minnesota and the Rainy River district of northwestern Ontario, Can. It has an area of 360 square miles (932 square km), is about 50 miles (80 km) long, 35 miles (56 km) of which form the international boundary, and has an average width of 5 miles (8 km) with a maximum of 27 miles (43 km). Its shores are irregular and deeply indented, and it contains more than 500 islands. Drainage is westward through the 85-mile- (137-kilometre-) long Rainy River into Lake of the Woods.

Rainy Lake was discovered in 1688 by a French explorer, Jacques de Noyon. A power station on Rainy River just downstream from the lake supplies electricity to the lumber, pulp, and paper milling industries of Fort Frances (Ont.) and International Falls (Minn.). The region is the site of several Indian reservations and is popular for hunting, fishing, and canoeing.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Amy Tikkanen.
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