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Lake Athabasca
Location	Saskatchewan/Alberta
Coordinates	59°16′N 109°27′W / 59.267, -109.45
Primary outflows	Slave River
Catchment area	274,540 m²
Basin countries	Canada
Max length	283 km
Max width	50 km
Surface area	7,850 km²[1]
Average depth	20 m
Max depth	124 m
Water volume	204 km³
Shore length1	~1900 km
Surface elevation	213 m
Settlements	Fort Chipewyan Uranium City
1 Shore length is not a well-defined measure.

Lake Athabasca (French: lac Athabasca, from Woods Cree aðapaskāw, "[where] there are plants one after another")^[2] is located in the northwest corner of Saskatchewan and the northeast corner of Alberta between 58° and 60° N.

The name in the Cree language originally referred only to the large delta formed by the confluence the Athabasca River at the south west corner of the lake. In 1791 Philip Turnor, cartographer for the Hudson’s Bay Company, wrote in his journal, “low swampy ground on the South side with a few willows growing upon it, from which the Lake in general takes its name Athapison in the Southern Cree tongue which signifies open country such as lakes with willows and grass growing about them”. Peter Fidler originally recorded the name for the river in 1790 as the Great Arabuska. By 1801 the name had gained a closer spelling to what we know now…. Athapaskow Lake. By 1820 George Simpson referred to both the lake and the river in their modern spelling.

The lake covers 7,850 km²; (3,030 sq mi), is 283 km (175 mi) long, has a maximum width of 50 km (31 mi), and a maximum depth of 124 m (406 ft), and holds 204 cu km (49 cu mi) of water, making it the largest and deepest lake in both Alberta and Saskatchewan, and the eighth largest in Canada^[3]. Water flows northward from the lake via the Slave River and Mackenzie River systems, eventually reaching the Arctic Ocean. Fort Chipewyan, the oldest European settlement in Alberta, is located on the small western shore of the lake, where the Slave River begins its northward journey alongside the eastern boundary of Wood Buffalo National Park.

Lake Athabasca, Canada

Uranium and gold mining along the northern shore resulted in the birth of Uranium City, Saskatchewan, which was home to the mine workers and their families. While the last mine closed in the 1980s, the effects of mining operations have heavily contaminated the northern shores.

The Lake Athabasca Sand Dunes, the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°, are adjacent to the southern shore. After a long struggle with government bureaucracy and opposition from mining companies, the dunes were designated a "Provincial Wilderness Park" in 1992.

Lake Athabasca contains 23 species of fish, with a world record lake trout of 46.3 kg (101.8 lb) having been caught from its depths in 1961 by means of a gillnet.^[4].

v • d • e Hydrography of Alberta
Rivers	Athabasca · Battle · Beaver · Bow · Brazeau · Crowsnest · Firebag · Hay · Milk · North Saskatchewan · Oldman · Peace · Pembina · Red Deer · Slave · Smoky · South Saskatchewan · Wapiti · more...
Waterfalls	Athabasca · Bow · Bridal Veil · Elbow · Panther  · Sunwapta
Lakes	Athabasca · Beaverhill · Bistcho · Claire · Cold · La Biche · Lesser Slave · Pigeon · Sylvan · Utikuma · Wabamun · more...
Reservoirs	Abraham · Barrier · Chestermere · Kananaskis · McGregor · Minnewanka · Glenmore · Sikome
Glaciers	Athabasca · Bow · Columbia Icefield · Crowfoot · Hector · Peyto · Saskatchewan · Vulture · Wapta · Waputik Icefield

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