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The claim: Posts claim that a real 1688 map shows Lake Ontario was named 'Lac America' before Canada or the United States existed.

Altered mediaHistory
Where this comes from

It's natural to be curious about the history of place names and what maps from centuries ago can tell us about how different lands were understood.

The bigger picture

Lead Stories found that while a 1688 map does exist, the name of Lake Ontario has been altered in the version circulating online—the original map does not show the lake called 'Lac America,' so the historic record has been changed rather than discovered.

Checked by Lead Stories (“Altered Map”), Factuel AFP (“Photo manipulée”, in French), AFP Fact Check (“False”) and Snopes (“Fake”) · 2026

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Verdicts come from the fact-checkers linked above; follow the link for their full reasoning. The explanation is an AI summary of their material and may contain mistakes.