The Gulf of Saint Lawrence (French: Golfe du Saint-Laurent) is the outlet of the North American Great Lakes via the Saint Lawrence River into the Atlantic Ocean.The gulf is a semi-enclosed sea, covering an area of about 226,000 square kilometres (87,000 sq mi) and containing about 34,500 cubic kilometres (8,300 cu mi) of water, which results in an average depth of 152 metres (499 ft).