Big bear lake is located in Northern Canada 270 km from the Beaufort sea (Amundsen Gulf). This is the area North of the Arctic circle, that is to say that the Northern part of the reservoir belongs to the Arctic, and the southern part of the North temperate zone. The pond lies at an altitude of 156 metres above sea level. The area of water surface is equal 31328 square kilometers (gazetteer of Canada). The volume of water equal to 2236 cubic km Length of the lake is 320 km and the width is 175 km and the Maximum depth corresponds to 413 meters. The average depth of 71.7 meters. The length of the coastline is equal to 2719 km Consider the lake ranks 8th largest in the world, 4th in North America and is considered the largest in Canada. Through the Great Bear river (length 113 km) is connected with the river Mackenzie. This is a very important transport link in those 4 months when the pond does not freeze. The remaining 8 months from November to June it is ice.For the first time on the big pond in the Arctic have learned in 1783, a fur trader Peter pond. It was a successful entrepreneur, who was one of the first to realize that the Western and Northern areas of Canada the fur is much richer than southern and Eastern. He visited the lake and even drew the first map of the North-Western areas adjacent to the river Mackenzie. In the year 1800 on the banks of the pond was visited by John Franklin, who is considered the discoverer of the Northwest passage. He laid the village of Fort Franklin on the South-Western tip of the lake. That became the basis for the development of the Northern areas.
