Along with Nettilling Lake, it is located in south-central Baffin Island's Great Plain of the Koukdjuak.

[2] The lake is 3,115 km2 (1,203 sq mi) in size, and sits at an elevation of 113 m (371 ft).

This lower-lying area only emerged 4,500 years ago (recently in geological terms) from beneath the waters of Foxe Basin.

The lake was a gathering place for Inuit from Kimmirut, Soper River Valley, Pangnirtung, Cape Dorset, and Frobisher Bay.

[3] Amadjuak Lake is also notable as a summer feeding grounds, calving grounds, and migration route for the Southern Qikiqtaaluk herd of Barren-ground caribou.