Hudson Bay Lowlands
The Hudson Bay Lowlands is a large, poorly drained piece of wetlands wedged between the Canadian Shield and southern shores of Hudson Bay and James Bay.[1] Many wide and slow-moving rivers flow through this area toward the salt water of Hudson Bay. Mosquitoes and black flies thrive here. This is a sparsely populated region. There are a few small First Nations settlements on the southern shore of Hudson Bay at places like Moose Factory, Moosonee, and Fort Severn. The Lowlands also make up a portion of Canada's oil and natural gas production.[citation needed]
[edit] Early discovery and exploration
The local Ojibwa and Cree most likely came into contact with the region but did not populate the region due to the harsh, undesirable conditions and poor drainage patterns of the area. When Europeans arrived in the area, The Hudson's Bay Company set up trading posts such as Rankin Inlet, some of which remain populated until today. However, these never grew into sizable towns, again because of the poor living conditions and climate. To this day, not all of the lowlands have been properly explored.
[edit] Naming and geography
The region is named after the nearby bay, Hudson Bay, the second largest in the world. The entire area drains into the bay through rivers such as the Kazan, Dubawnt and Churchill. The region is located in the extreme north of Ontario, on the border with Nunavut and covers around 25 percent of Ontario's total land area (approximately 227,400 km²). The climate of the region depends largely on the water surface of the bay, which heats rapidly in the summer, breaking ice and bringing rains to the lowlands which let the sparse forested areas flourish and cause floods in the swampy wetlands, which form the majority of the region. In the winter the bay freezes over again, bringing freezing temperatures and winds which make the lowlands such an undesirable place to live.
[edit] References
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This article relies largely or entirely upon a single source. Please help improve this article by introducing citations to additional sources. Discussion about the problems with the sole source used may be found on the talk page. (December 2007) |
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