Cornwall Island (Nunavut)

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Cornwall Island
Wfm cornwall island.jpg
NASA Landsat photo of Cornwall Island
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Cornwall Island, Nunavut
Geography
Location Northern Canada
Coordinates 77°37′N094°52′W / 77.617°N 94.867°W / 77.617; -94.867 (Cornwall Island) Coordinates: 77°37′N094°52′W / 77.617°N 94.867°W / 77.617; -94.867 (Cornwall Island)
Archipelago Queen Elizabeth Islands
Arctic Archipelago
Area2,358 km2 (910 sq mi)
Length90 km (56 mi)
Width30 km (19 mi)
Highest elevation400 m (1300 ft)
Highest pointMcLeod Head
Administration
Canada
Territory Nunavut
Demographics
PopulationUninhabited

Cornwall Island is a small, uninhabited island in the high arctic region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is near the geometric centre of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. To the north, it is separated from Amund Ringnes Island by Hendriksen Strait. To the south, it is separated from Devon Island by Belcher Channel. It is the largest of six islands (the others being Buckingham, Ekins, Exmouth, Graham Island, and Table) in the Norwegian Bay, west of Ellesmere Island.

Contents

Cornwall Island measures about 90 km (56 mi) long and 30 km (19 mi) wide, and has an area of 2,358 km2 (910 sq mi).

The tallest peaks are McLeod Head at 400 m (1,300 ft), and Mount Nicolay at 290 m (950 ft), both on the north coast. Coast features include Northeast Point and Gordon Head to the east; Pell Point and Cape O'Brien to the south; and Cape Butler in the southwest. [1]

The first known sighting of the island was by Sir Edward Belcher on 30 August 1852 and was named in honour of Prince Edward, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall. [2]

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Ellesmere Island is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of 196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi), slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total length of the island is 830 km (520 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Victoria Island</span> Island in Arctic Canada

Victoria Island is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at 217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi) in area, it is Canada's second-largest island. It is nearly double the size of Newfoundland (111,390 km2 [43,010 sq mi]), and is slightly larger than the island of Great Britain (209,331 km2 [80,823 sq mi]) but smaller than Honshu (225,800 km2 [87,200 sq mi]). The western third of the island lies in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories; the remainder is part of Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region. The population of 2,168 is divided among 2 settlements, the larger of which is in Nunavut and the other of which is in the Northwest Territories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Devon Island</span> Uninhabited island in Nunavut, Canada

Devon Island is an island in Canada and the largest uninhabited island in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth-largest island, and the 27th-largest island in the world. It has an area of 55,247 km2 (21,331 sq mi). The bedrock is Precambrian gneiss and Paleozoic siltstones and shales. The highest point is the Devon Ice Cap at 1,920 m (6,300 ft) which is part of the Arctic Cordillera. Devon Island contains several small mountain ranges, such as the Treuter Mountains, Haddington Range and the Cunningham Mountains. The notable similarity of its surface to that of Mars has attracted interest from scientists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Somerset Island (Nunavut)</span> Uninhabited island in Nunavut, Canada

Somerset Island is a large, uninhabited island of the Arctic Archipelago, that is part of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The island is separated from Cornwallis Island and Devon Island to the north by the Parry Channel, from Baffin Island to the east by Prince Regent Inlet, from the Boothia Peninsula to the south by Bellot Strait, and from Prince of Wales Island to the west by Peel Sound. It has an area of 24,786 km2 (9,570 sq mi), making it the 46th largest island in the world and Canada's twelfth largest island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cornwallis Island (Nunavut)</span> Island in northern Canada

Cornwallis Island is one of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, part of the Arctic Archipelago, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut in the Canadian Arctic. It lies to the west of Devon Island, the largest uninhabited island in the world, and at its greatest length is about 113 km (70 mi). At 6,995 km2 (2,701 sq mi) in size, it is the 96th largest island in the world, and Canada's 21st largest island. Cornwallis Island is separated by the Wellington Channel from Devon Island, and by the Parry Channel from Somerset Island to the south. Northwest of Cornwallis Island lies Little Cornwallis Island, the biggest of a group of small islands at the north end of McDougall Sound, which separates Cornwallis Island from nearby Bathurst Island.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince of Wales Island (Nunavut)</span> Uninhabited in the Arctic Archipelago

Prince of Wales Island is an Arctic island in Nunavut, Canada. One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, it lies between Victoria Island and Somerset Island and is south of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Russell Island (Nunavut)</span> Uninhabited island in the Arctic Archipelago

Russell Island is an uninhabited island of the Arctic Archipelago in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the Parry Channel, separated from the northern tip of Prince of Wales Island by the narrow Baring Channel. The western third of the island is separated from the other two thirds by a narrow lake and its outlet. At the northern end of the lake there is an isthmus just 1.1 km (0.68 mi) wide and this joins the two parts of the island. With a total area of 940 km2 (360 sq mi), it is the largest island offshore of Prince of Wales Island.

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Qikiqtaaluk (ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ), formerly White Island, is one of the uninhabited Canadian arctic islands in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. Located in Foxe Basin off the northern tip of Southampton Island, it measures 789 km2 (305 sq mi) in area.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buckingham Island</span>

Buckingham Island is a Canadian arctic island located in Norwegian Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The island lies immediately southwest of Graham Island and 50 km (31 mi) east of Cornwall Island. Buckingham Island is 10 km (6.2 mi) wide and has an area of 137 km2 (53 sq mi). It is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands.

Table Island is an uninhabited island within the Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It lies in Norwegian Bay, north of Devon Island, and is also south Cornwall Island, separated by Belcher Channel. Ekins Island is a small islet about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the southwest.

Ekins Island is an uninhabited island within the Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It lies in Norwegian Bay, north of Devon Island, and is also south of Cornwall Island, separated by Belcher Channel. Table Island is located about 4 km (2.5 mi) to the northeast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norwegian Bay</span> Body of water

Norwegian Bay is an Arctic Ocean waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Amund Ringnes Island is to the northwest, and Axel Heiberg Island is to the north. Ellesmere Island is to the east, and Devon Island is to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Belcher Channel</span>

Belcher Channel is a waterway in Norwegian Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It separates Cornwall Island from Devon Island. Table Island and Ekins Island lie within the channel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cape Chidley Islands</span>

The Cape Chidley Islands are members of the Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. They are located in the Labrador Sea at the south end of the entrance to the Hudson Strait, north of Killiniq Island's Cape Chidley, and separated from Killiniq Island by the MacGregor Strait.

Pilattuaq formerly Scott Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Baffin Bay, off the eastern coast of Baffin Island, in the middle of Scott Inlet, north of the confluence of Clark Fiord and Gibbs Fiord which embrace Qikiqtaaluk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Geography of Franz Josef Land</span>

The Geography of Franz Josef Land refers to an island group belonging to Arkhangelsk Oblast of Russia. It is situated in the Barents Sea of the Arctic, north of Novaya Zemlya and east of Svalbard. At latitudes between 80.0° and 81.9° north, it is the most northerly group of islands associated with Eurasia. The extreme northernmost point is Cape Fligely on Rudolf Island. The archipelago consists of 191 ice-covered islands with a total area of 16,134 km2 (6,229 sq mi). It is currently uninhabited. The archipelago is only 900 to 1,110 km from the North Pole, and the northernmost islands are closer to the Pole than any other land except for Canada's Ellesmere Island and Greenland. The largest island is Zemlya Georga which measures 110 km (68 mi) from end to end. The highest point in the archipelago is on Ostrov Viner-Neyshtadt which reaches 620 m (2,034 ft) above sea level. The central cluster of large islands in the midst of the archipelago forms a compact whole, known as Zichy Land, where islands are separated from each other by very narrow sounds that are frozen most of the year.

References

  1. "Cornwall, Graham, Buckingham, Table, Exmouth, and Ekins Islands". uoguelph.ca. Retrieved 2008-05-14.
  2. Mills, William James (2003). Exploring Polar Frontiers:A Historical Encyclopedia. ABC-CLIO. p. 163. ISBN   978-1-57607-422-0.

Further reading