Nunavut

I

Introduction

Nunavut, administrative territory in central-northern Canada. The territory, formerly the eastern and central part of the Northwest Territories, came into being on April 1, 1999. Nunavut is bordered by the Northwest Territories to the west, the provinces of Manitoba and Saskatchewan to the south, and Baffin Bay and the Labrador Sea to the east.

Nunavut is the largest political subdivision of Canada, comprising one fifth of the country's land mass and covering 1,994,000 sq km (769,684 sq mi). The territory is a self-governing homeland for the Inuit, the original inhabitants of the region. Nunavut, 'Our Land' in the Inuit language, Inuktitut, is the third Canadian territory, joining the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory. The territorial capital is at Iqaluit, at the head of Frobisher Bay, on the south-east coast of Baffin Island. Iqaluit is the site of the 19-member legislative assembly of Nunavut.

II

Land and Resources

As Canada’s most northern territory, nearly 60 per cent of Nunavut lies north of the Arctic Circle. It stretches beyond 82° north, further north than any other point of land except Greenland, and includes both an Arctic mainland and Arctic islands. Within the Arctic Ocean are many islands that are collectively known as the Arctic Archipelago, covering about 1 million sq km (420,000 sq mi). Several of these treeless islands are among the largest in Canada, including Baffin Island and Ellesmere Island. The Arctic mainland is shaped like a triangle and extends from the southern edge of the tundra to the shores of the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay.

A

Physical Geography

Nunavut encompasses the former Keewatin, Baffin, and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories, which are now known in Nunavut as Kivalliq, Qikiqtaaluk, and Kitikmeot. The region’s topography ranges from coastal plains to rugged mountains. Nunavut contains most of the Canadian Shield, also called the Laurentian Plateau, a crust of ancient rocks 500 million years old. Elevations within the territory rise from sea level to 2,616 m (8,583 ft) at Barbeau Peak on Ellesmere Island. Ice caps on Baffin, Devon, and Ellesmere islands are remnants of the last Ice Age, when the Wisconsin Ice Sheet covered the Nunavut area. Glaciers also carved deep fiords along the coasts of Ellesmere Island.

The Hudson Strait separates Nunavut from the province of Quebec. Davis Strait and Baffin Bay, extensions of the North Atlantic, separate Nunavut from Greenland. Lancaster Sound, between Baffin and Devon islands, marks the entrance to the Arctic Ocean and the beginning of the North West Passage. The coastline of the Arctic Ocean extends from just east of the Beaufort Sea to the Gulf of Boothia, which separates the Boothia Peninsula on the mainland from the northern part of Baffin Island. The Back and Coppermine rivers flow northwards across the mainland of Nunavut and empty into the Arctic Ocean, while the waters of the Thelon and Kazan rivers travel eastward, discharging into Hudson Bay.

B

Climate

The Nunavut area has a harsh, arctic climate, with cool summers and extremely cold winters. Temperatures average -32° C (-25° F) in January and 5° C (41° F) in July, with less than 25 cm (10 in) of precipitation per year, mostly in the form of snow. In winter there may be fierce blizzards—snowstorms with intensely cold and strong winds.