Lake Winnipeg (French: Lac Winnipeg) is a 24,514-square-kilometre (9,465 sq mi) lake in North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its southern end is about 55 kilometres (34 mi) north of the city of Winnipeg. It is the 12th largest lake on Earth, Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake, and the third-largest freshwater lake contained entirely within Canada. It is relatively shallow, with a mean depth of 12 m [39 ft]. Its deepest section is a narrow 36 m (118 ft) deep channel between the northern and southern basins.
The lake's east side has pristine boreal forests and rivers that were inscribed in 2018 as Pimachiowin Aki, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The lake is 416 km (258 mi) from north to south, with remote sandy beaches, large limestone cliffs, and many bat caves in some areas. Manitoba Hydro uses the lake as one of the largest reservoirs in the world. There are many islands, most of them undeveloped.