title: Great Lakes
text: Though the five lakes reside in separate basins , they form a single , naturally interconnected body of fresh water , within the Great Lakes Basin . The lakes form a chain connecting the east - central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean . From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River , water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan , southward to Erie , and finally northward to Lake Ontario . The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers , and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands . There are also several thousand smaller lakes , often called `` inland lakes , '' within the basin . The surface area of the five primary lakes combined is roughly equal to the size of the United Kingdom , while the surface area of the entire basin ( the lakes and the land they drain ) is about the size of the UK and France combined . Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States ; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada . The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York . Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes : Ontario does not border Lake Michigan , and Michigan does not border Lake Ontario . New York and Wisconsin 's jurisdictions extend into two lakes , and the remaining states into one of the lakes .

Question: what is the relative location of the great lakes

answer: The Great Lakes form a chain connecting the east - central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean . From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River , water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan , southward to Erie , and finally northward to Lake Ontario . The lakes drain a large watershed via many rivers , and are studded with approximately 35,000 islands . There are also several thousand smaller lakes , often called `` inland lakes , '' within the basin .Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States ; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada . The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan , Wisconsin , Minnesota , Illinois , Indiana , Ohio , Pennsylvania , and New York . Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes :New York and Wisconsin 's jurisdictions extend into two lakes , and the remaining states into one of the lakes .
answer: The Great Lakes form a chain connecting the east - central interior of North America to the Atlantic Ocean. From the interior to the outlet at the Saint Lawrence River, water flows from Superior to Huron and Michigan, southward to Erie, and finally northward to Lake Ontario. Lake Michigan is the only one of the Great Lakes that is located entirely within the United States; the others form a water boundary between the United States and Canada. The lakes are divided among the jurisdictions of the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. states of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York. Both Ontario and Michigan include in their boundaries portions of four of the lakes: New York and Wisconsin's jurisdictions extend into two lakes, and the remaining states into one of the lakes.