How Many Great Lakes Are There?

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There are five Great Lakes. The names of the Great Lakes are Erie, Huron, Michigan, Ontario and Superior. The lakes border the American states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, as well as the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec.

The five Great Lakes combined cover more than 94,000 square miles and hold an estimated 6 quadrillion gallons of fresh water, which equates to roughly 20 percent of the world’s fresh surface water supply and roughly 90 percent of the fresh surface water supply in the United States. The connecting channels of the five lakes form the largest freshwater system on Earth.