Lake Melville, tidal extension of Hamilton Inlet (from which it is separated by the Narrows), on the Labrador coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Averaging 12 miles (19 km) in width and with depths of nearly 400 feet (120 metres), it extends southwestward for 66 miles from the Backway (east of the Narrows), its outlet to the Atlantic Ocean prior to the Ice Age; its total length, including Grand Lake and Hamilton Inlet, exceeds 150 miles. The Naskaupi and Churchill rivers flow into Melville’s western extensions, Grand Lake and Goose Bay, respectively. Lakeside settlements include Goose Bay, an air base and emergency refueling station, North West River, and several small trapping and lumbering villages.