Melville Peninsula

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The Melville Peninsula is on the west side of Foxe Basin Map indicating Foxe Basin, Nunavut, Canada.png
The Melville Peninsula is on the west side of Foxe Basin
Boothia and Melville Peninsulas, Nunavut, Canada. To the north of Melville Peninsula is Baffin Island. Boothia and melville peninsula 1.PNG
Boothia and Melville Peninsulas, Nunavut, Canada. To the north of Melville Peninsula is Baffin Island.

Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic north of Hudson Bay. To the east is Foxe Basin and to the west the Gulf of Boothia. To the north the Fury and Hecla Strait separates it from Baffin Island. To the south Repulse Bay and Frozen Strait separate it from Southampton Island at the north end of Hudson Bay. On the southwest it is connected to the mainland by the Rae Isthmus, named after the Arctic explorer John Rae.

Between 1821 and 1823 its east side was mapped by William Edward Parry. Since 1999, it has been part of Nunavut. Before that, it was part of the District of Franklin. Most of the peninsula lies in Nunavut's Qikiqtaaluk Region, while its southwesternmost section, around Repulse Bay, lies in the Kivalliq Region. Communities on the peninsula include the hamlets of Naujaat and Sanirajak. The hamlet of Igloolik is located on an island lying just off the northeastern coast of the peninsula. Adjoining Igloolik is Igloolik Airport.

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Baffin Island, in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is 507,451 km2 (195,928 sq mi)—slightly larger than Spain, its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadian census, and is located at 68°N70°W. It also contains the city of Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut.

Victoria Island Island in Arctic Canada

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Arctic Archipelago Group of islands in the Arctic Ocean, off the coast of northern Canada

The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland.

Frobisher Bay Inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada

Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about 230 km (140 mi) and its width varies from about 40 km (25 mi) at its outlet into the Labrador Sea to roughly 20 km (12 mi) towards its inner end.

District of Franklin

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Igloolik Hamlet in Nunavut, Canada

Igloolik is an Inuit hamlet in Foxe Basin, Qikiqtaaluk Region in Nunavut, northern Canada. Because its location on Igloolik Island is close to Melville Peninsula, it is often mistakenly thought to be on the peninsula. The name "Igloolik" means "there is a house here". It derives from iglu, meaning house or building, and refers to the sod houses that were originally in the area, not to snow igloos. In Inuktitut the residents are called Iglulingmiut.

Qikiqtaaluk Region Region of Nunavut, Canada

The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region or Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name for Baffin Island. Although the Qikiqtaaluk Region is the most commonly used name in official contexts, several notable public organizations, including Statistics Canada prefer the older term Baffin Region.

Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) Island of the Arctic Archipelago

Melville Island is an uninhabited island of the Arctic Archipelago with an area of 42,149 km2 (16,274 sq mi). It is the 33rd largest island in the world and Canada's eighth largest island.

Somerset Island (Nunavut) Island in Nunavut, Canada

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Southampton Island

Southampton Island is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of the island is stated as 41,214 km2 (15,913 sq mi) by Statistics Canada. It is the 34th largest island in the world and Canada's ninth largest island. The only settlement on Southampton Island is Coral Harbour, called Salliq in Inuktitut.

Prince of Wales Island (Nunavut) Island in the Arctic Archipelago

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Amund Ringnes Island

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Boothia Peninsula

Boothia Peninsula is a large peninsula in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic, south of Somerset Island. The northern part, Murchison Promontory, is the northernmost point of mainland Canada.

Foxe Basin Oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada

Foxe Basin is a shallow oceanic basin north of Hudson Bay, in Nunavut, Canada, located between Baffin Island and the Melville Peninsula. For most of the year, it is blocked by sea ice and drift ice made up of multiple ice floes.

Cumberland Peninsula Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada

Cumberland Peninsula is a peninsula in the southeastern part of Baffin Island in Nunavut, Canada. It is located between 64°56' and 67°57' north latitude, and 61°56' to 68° west longitude. The Arctic Circle crosses the peninsula, with the Labrador Sea to the southeast, and the Davis Strait to the east, which lies between the peninsula and Greenland. The Cumberland Sound lies to the southwest, separating the Cumberland Peninsula from the Hall Peninsula, which is also part of Baffin Island.

Fury and Hecla Strait Arctic strait below northwest Baffin Island, Nunavut, Canada

Fury and Hecla Strait is a narrow Arctic seawater channel located in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada.

Prince Alfred Bay is a waterway in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It lies off the western coast of Devon Island, forming a border of the Grinnell Peninsula, in the eastern high Arctic. Like Pioneer Bay to the south, it is an arm of Wellington Channel.

The geology of Nunavut began to form nearly three billion years ago in the Archean and the territory preserves some of the world's oldest rock units.

Canadian Arctic Rift System North American geological structure

The Canadian Arctic Rift System is a major North American geological structure extending from the Labrador Sea in the southeast through Davis Strait, Baffin Bay and the Arctic Archipelago in the northwest. It consists of a series of interconnected rifts that formed during the Paleozoic, Mesozoic and Cenozoic eras. Extensional stresses along the entire length of the rift system have resulted in a variety of tectonic features, including grabens, half-grabens, basins and faults.

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    Further reading

    Coordinates: 68°N084°W / 68°N 84°W / 68; -84 (Melville Peninsula)