The Abitibi River is a

river A river is a natural stream of fresh water that flows on land or inside Subterranean river, caves towards another body of water at a lower elevation, such as an ocean, lake, or another river. A river may run dry before reaching the end of ...

in northeastern

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, Canada, which flows northwest from Lake Abitibi to join the Moose River which empties into

James Bay James Bay (, ; ) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. It borders the provinces of Quebec and Ontario, and is politically part of Nunavut. Its largest island is Akimiski Island. Numerous waterways of the ...

. This river is long, and descends . It is the ninth longest river in Ontario, Behind the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

(1,271km),

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

(1.197km), Severn River (982km),

Albany River The Albany River ( ) is a river in Northern Ontario, Canada, which flows northeast from Lake St. Joseph in Northwestern Ontario and empties into James Bay. It is long to the head of the Cat River (a tributary of Lake St. Joseph), tying it wit ...

(982km),

Winnipeg River Winnipeg River is a Canadian river that flows roughly northwest from Lake of the Woods in the province of Ontario to Lake Winnipeg in Manitoba. This river is long from the Norman Dam in Kenora to its mouth at Lake Winnipeg. Its drainage basin, w ...

(813km), Attawapiskat River (748km), English River (615km) and Moose River(547km). Abitibi is an Algonquin word meaning "halfway water", derived from ''abitah'', which may be translated as "middle" or "halfway", and ''nipi'', "water". Originally used by the French to designate a band of Algonquin Indians who lived near the lake, the name was descriptive of their location halfway between the trading posts on the Hudson Bay and those on the Ottawa River. The river was an important

fur trading The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur. Since the establishment of a world fur market in the early modern period, furs of boreal ecosystem, boreal, polar and cold temperate mammalian animals h ...

route for the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. From 1914 Until 2014,

pulp and paper The pulp and paper industry comprises companies that use wood, specifically pulpwood, as raw material and produce pulp, paper, paperboard, and other cellulose-based products. Manufacturing process In the manufacturing process, pulp is introd ...

, centered on the town of Iroquois Falls, was an important industry in the heavily forested region through which it flows. The region also supports tourism and gold mining. The

Abitibi Canyon Generating Station Abitibi Canyon Generating Station is a hydroelectric power plant owned by Ontario Power Generation on the Abitibi River. The station is located 80 km north of Smooth Rock Falls, within Pitt Township in Northern Unorganized Cochrane Distri ...

is located on the river at Abitibi Canyon. The experience of surveying the river for the purposes of building this plant was the inspiration for folk singer Wade Hemsworth's " The Black Fly Song".

Geography

Description of river course (in downstream order): * Begins as outlet from Lake Abitibi () * Extreme southern point () * Ansonville, Ontario () * Iroquois Falls, Ontario () * Crossed by

Ontario Northland Railway The Ontario Northland Railway is a Canadian railway operated by the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission, a Crown agency (Ontario), provincial Crown agency of the government of Ontario. Originally built to develop the Lake Timiskaming ...

() * Long Sault Rapids hydroelectric plant () * Confluence with the Black River () * Confluence with the Frederick House River () *

crossing at Island Falls Station, Ontario () * Island Falls, Ontario () *

near Fraserdale, Ontario () * Otter Rapids Generating Station () * Coral Rapids, Ontario () * Extreme western point () * Confluence with the Little Abitibi River () * Joins the Moose River () * Enters

as part of the Moose River ()

Tributaries

* Little Abitibi River * Frederick House River * Black River * Mistango River * Marathon Creek * Edwards Creek * Meadow Creek

Protected areas

A small portion of the river (from the outlet of Lake Abitibi to Couchching Falls) is protected in the Abitibi-De-Troyes Provincial Park. Until April 2005, this park included all the public lands stretching along the Abitibi River to Iroquois Falls, but most of these were deregulated because the significant amount of private land within the area that made the management of the waterway class provincial park difficult.

Power generation

The Abitibi River is used extensively for the hydro-electric power generation. Power stations on the river are in downstream order:

References

External links