Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Northern Canada |
Coordinates | 75°N90°W / 75°N 90°W |
Total islands | 36,563 |
Major islands | Baffin Island, Victoria Island, Ellesmere Island |
Area | 1,407,770 [1] km2 (543,540 sq mi) |
Administration | |
Canada | |
Territories and province | Nunavut Northwest Territories Yukon Newfoundland and Labrador |
Largest settlement | Iqaluit, Nunavut(pop. 7,429 [2] ) |
Demographics | |
Population | 23,073 (2021 [3] [4] ) |
Pop. density | 0.0098/km2 (0.0254/sq mi) |
The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark) and Iceland (an independent country).
Situated in the northern extremity of North America and covering about 1,424,500 km2 (550,000 sq mi), this group of 36,563 islands, surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, comprises much of Northern Canada, predominately Nunavut and the Northwest Territories. [5] The archipelago is showing some effects of climate change, [6] [7] with some computer estimates determining that melting there will contribute 3.5 cm (1.4 in) to the rise in sea levels by 2100. [8]
Around 2500 BCE, the first humans, the Paleo-Eskimos, arrived in the archipelago from the Canadian mainland. Between 1000–1500 CE, they were replaced by the Thule people, who are the ancestors of today's Inuit.
British claims on the islands, the British Arctic Territories, were based on the explorations in the 1570s by Martin Frobisher. Canadian sovereignty was originally (1870–80) only over island portions that drained into Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait. Canadian sovereignty over the islands was established by 1880 when Britain transferred them to Canada. [9] The District of Franklin – established in 1895 – comprised almost all of the archipelago. The district was dissolved upon the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Canada claims all the waterways of the Northwest Passage as Canadian Internal Waters; however, most maritime countries view these as international waters. [10] [ failed verification ] Disagreement over the passages' status has raised Canadian concerns about environmental enforcement, national security, and general sovereignty. East of Ellesmere Island, in the Nares Strait, lies Hans Island, ownership of which is now shared between Canada and Denmark, after a decades-long dispute. [11] [12] [13]
The archipelago extends some 2,400 km (1,500 mi) longitudinally and 1,900 km (1,200 mi) from the mainland to Cape Columbia, the northernmost point on Ellesmere Island. It is bounded on the west by the Beaufort Sea; on the northwest by the Arctic Ocean; on the east by Greenland, Baffin Bay and Davis Strait; and on the south by Hudson Bay and the Canadian mainland. The various islands are separated from each other and the continental mainland by a series of waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passage. Two large peninsulas, Boothia and Melville, extend northward from the mainland. The northernmost cluster of islands, including Ellesmere Island, is known as the Queen Elizabeth Islands and was formerly the Parry Islands.
The archipelago consists of 36,563 islands, of which 94 are classified as major islands, being larger than 130 km2 (50 sq mi), and cover a total area of 1,400,000 km2 (540,000 sq mi). [14] The islands of the archipelago over 10,000 km2 (3,900 sq mi), in order of descending area, are:
Name | Location* | Area | Area rank | Population (2021) | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
World | Canada | ||||
Baffin Island | NU | 507,451 km2 (195,928 sq mi) | 5 | 1 | 13,039 [2] [3] |
Victoria Island | NT, NU | 217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi) | 8 | 2 | 2,168 [3] [4] |
Ellesmere Island | NU | 196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi) | 10 | 3 | 144 [3] |
Banks Island | NT | 70,028 km2 (27,038 sq mi) | 24 | 5 | 104 [4] |
Devon Island | NU | 55,247 km2 (21,331 sq mi) | 27 | 6 | 0 |
Axel Heiberg Island | NU | 43,178 km2 (16,671 sq mi) | 32 | 7 | 0 |
Melville Island | NT, NU | 42,149 km2 (16,274 sq mi) | 33 | 8 | 0 |
Southampton Island | NU | 41,214 km2 (15,913 sq mi) | 34 | 9 | 1,038 [3] |
Prince of Wales Island | NU | 33,339 km2 (12,872 sq mi) | 40 | 10 | 0 |
Somerset Island | NU | 24,786 km2 (9,570 sq mi) | 46 | 12 | 0 |
Bathurst Island | NU | 16,042 km2 (6,194 sq mi) | 54 | 13 | 0 |
Prince Patrick Island | NT | 15,848 km2 (6,119 sq mi) | 55 | 14 | 0 |
King William Island | NU | 13,111 km2 (5,062 sq mi) | 61 | 15 | 1,349 [3] |
Ellef Ringnes Island | NU | 11,295 km2 (4,361 sq mi) | 69 | 16 | 0 |
Bylot Island | NU | 11,067 km2 (4,273 sq mi) | 72 | 17 | 0 |
* NT = Northwest Territories, NU = Nunavut
After Greenland, the archipelago is the world's largest high-Arctic land area. The climate of the islands is Arctic, and the terrain consists of tundra except in mountainous regions. Most of the islands are uninhabited; human settlement is extremely thin and scattered, being mainly coastal Inuit settlements on the southern islands.
Community | Island | Region, territory | Population [3] [4] |
---|---|---|---|
Arctic Bay | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 944 |
Clyde River | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 1,181 |
Iqaluit | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 7,429 |
Kimmirut | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 426 |
Pangnirtung | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 1,504 |
Pond Inlet | Baffin Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 1,555 |
Sachs Harbour | Banks Island | Inuvik, NT | 104 |
Qikiqtarjuaq | Broughton Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 593 |
Resolute | Cornwallis Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 183 |
Kinngait | Dorset Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 1,396 |
Grise Fiord | Ellesmere Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 144 |
Sanikiluaq | Flaherty Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 1,010 |
Igloolik | Igloolik Island | Qikiqtaaluk, NU | 2,049 |
Gjoa Haven | King William Island | Kitikmeot, NU | 1,349 |
Coral Harbour | Southampton Island | Kivalliq, NU | 1,038 |
Cambridge Bay | Victoria Island | Kitikmeot, NU | 1,760 |
Ulukhaktok | Victoria Island | Inuvik, NT | 408 |
Total | 23,073 |
Of the more than 36,000 islands, only 11 are populated. Baffin Island, the largest, also has the largest population of 13,309. [2] [3] The population accounts for 67.37 per cent of the 19,355 people in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, 56.51 per cent of the population of the Arctic Archipelago, and 35.38 per cent of the population of Nunavut. [2] [3] [4]
Island | Population [2] [3] [4] | Area [1] [15] [16] (km2) | Area (sq mi) | Density (km2) | Density (sq mi) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Baffin Island | 13,039 | 507,451 | 315,315 | 0.026 | 0.067 |
Banks Island | 104 | 70,028 | 43,513 | 0.001 | 0.004 |
Broughton Island | 593 | 127.6 | 79.3 | 4.647 | 12.037 |
Cornwallis Island | 183 | 6,995 | 4,346 | 0.026 | 0.068 |
Dorset Island | 1,396 | 21 | 8 | 174.500 | 67.375 |
Ellesmere Island | 144 | 196,236 | 121,935 | 0.001 | 0.002 |
Flaherty Island | 1,010 | 1,585 | 985 | 0.637 | 1.650 |
Igloolik Island | 2,049 | 114.5 | 71.1 | 17.895 | 46.348 |
King William Island | 1,349 | 13,111 | 8,147 | 0.103 | 0.266 |
Southampton Island | 1,038 | 41,214 | 25,609 | 0.103 | 0.266 |
Victoria Island | 2,168 | 217,291 | 135,018 | 0.010 | 0.026 |
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 two settlements, the larger of which is Cambridge Bay (Nunavut) and the other Ulukhaktok.
Baffin Bay, located between Baffin Island and the west coast of Greenland, is defined by the International Hydrographic Organization as a marginal sea of the Arctic Ocean. It is sometimes considered a sea of the North Atlantic Ocean. It is connected to the Atlantic via Davis Strait and the Labrador Sea. The narrower Nares Strait connects Baffin Bay with the Arctic Ocean. The bay is not navigable most of the year because of the ice cover and high density of floating ice and icebergs in the open areas. However, a polynya of about 80,000 km2 (31,000 sq mi), known as the North Water, opens in summer on the north near Smith Sound. Most of the aquatic life of the bay is concentrated near that region.
This is a list of the extreme points of North America: the points that are highest and lowest, and farther north, south, east or west than any other location on the continent. Some of these points are debatable, given the varying definitions of North America.
The Amundsen Glacier is a major Antarctic glacier, about 7 to 11 km wide and 150 km (80 nmi) long. It originates on the Antarctic Plateau where it drains the area to the south and west of Nilsen Plateau, then descends through the Queen Maud Mountains to enter the Ross Ice Shelf just west of the MacDonald Nunataks.
Tucker Glacier is a major valley glacier of Victoria Land, Antarctica, about 90 nautical miles long, flowing southeast between the Admiralty Mountains and the Victory Mountains to the Ross Sea. There is a snow saddle at the glacier's head, just west of Homerun Range, from which the Ebbe Glacier flows northwestward.
Ferrar Glacier is a glacier in Antarctica. It is about 35 nautical miles long, flowing from the plateau of Victoria Land west of the Royal Society Range to New Harbour in McMurdo Sound. The glacier makes a right (east) turn northeast of Knobhead, where it where it is apposed, i.e., joined in Siamese-twin fashion, to Taylor Glacier. From there, it continues east along the south side of Kukri Hills to New Harbor.
The team dressage event, part of the equestrian program at the 2004 Summer Olympics, used the results of the first round of the individual dressage to award rankings. That round was held on 20 August and 21 August 2004 at the Olympic Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of Markópoulo, in the Attica region of Greece. Like all other equestrian events, the dressage competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. 10 teams, each consisting of four horse and rider pairs, entered the contest.
The Ballantyne Strait is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the Northwest Territories of Canada. It separates Prince Patrick Island and Brock Island. It opens into the Arctic Ocean to the north-west.
The Byam Martin Channel is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It separates Mackenzie King Island and Melville Island from Lougheed Island, Cameron Island, Île Vanier, Massey Island and Île Marc. To the south it opens into Byam Channel and Austin Channel.
The Penny Strait is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It separates Bathurst Island from Devon Island. To the south and south-east, the strait opens into Queens Channel.
The Hazen Strait is a natural waterway through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It separates Mackenzie King Island in the Northwest Territories from Vesey Hamilton Island and Melville Island's Sabine Peninsula in Nunavut.
The borders of Canada include:
The borders of the oceans are the limits of Earth's oceanic waters. The definition and number of oceans can vary depending on the adopted criteria. The principal divisions of the five oceans are the Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern (Antarctic) Ocean, and Arctic Ocean. Smaller regions of the oceans are called seas, gulfs, bays, straits, and other terms. Geologically, an ocean is an area of oceanic crust covered by water.
Parborlasia corrugatus is a proboscis worm in the family Cerebratulidae. This species of proboscis or ribbon worm can grow to 2 metres in length, and lives in marine environments down to 3,590 metres (11,780 ft). This scavenger and predator is widely distributed in cold southern oceans.
Bacteridium bermudense is a species of sea snail, a marine gastropod mollusk in the family Pyramidellidae, the pyrams and their allies. The species remains within the Bacteridium genus of gastropods, with the exception of the other three related species being Bacteridium carinatum, Bacteridium resticulum and Bacteridium vittatum.