Lake Erie is one of the five large freshwater Great Lakes in
North America, the world's largest such lakes. Lake Erie itself
is the world's 13th largest natural lake, if the Caspian and
Aral Seas are counted. It has a surface area of 24,000 km²
(10,000 sq. miles), an average depth of 19 meters (62 feet), and
a retention time of 2.6 years. It contains 483 cubic kilometers
of water. For comparison, Lake Superior has an average depth of
483 feet (147 m), a volume of 12,232 cubic km and a retention
time of 191 years. Lake Erie is primarily fed by the Detroit
River (from Lake Huron and Lake St. Clair) and drains via the
Niagara River and Niagara Falls into Lake Ontario. Navigation
downstream is provided by the Welland Canal, part of the Great
Lakes Waterway. Other major tributaries of Lake Erie include the
Grand River, the River Raisin, the Maumee River and the Cuyahoga
River. The American states Ohio, Pennsylvania and New York are
located to the south of Lake Erie; Michigan lies to the west,
and the Canadian prov