Baffin Island

Baffin Island, island of Nunavut, north-eastern Canada. It is bordered by Baffin Bay and Davis Strait on the east, by Hudson Strait on the south, and by Foxe Basin and the Gulf of Boothia on the west. The largest island of Canada and the fifth largest in the world, Baffin Island is about 1,500 km (930 mi) long in a broad crescent shape and has an area of 507,451 sq km (195,928 sq mi). It is a continuation of the land mass that includes northern Quebec and the island of Newfoundland. The eastern and northern coasts are deeply indented, with many fiords, including Admiralty Inlet on the north-western coast, the largest fiord in the world. The central interior is dominated by ice-capped mountains that rise to 2,057 m (6,750 ft). The island has an arctic climate, is treeless, and has many freshwater lakes. Millions of birds nest here each year. The waters around Baffin Island support a variety of aquatic life, including narwhals, walruses, belugas, and harp seals.

Mines on Baffin Island produce lead, zinc, and silver. The island is sparsely populated, mainly by Inuit. On Frobisher Bay is located the island’s largest settlement, Iqaluit (population, 2006, 6,184), which is also the capital of the territory of Nunavut. The first Europeans to visit the island were probably Viking settlers from Greenland in the early 11th century. In 1576-1577 Sir Martin Frobisher led two gold-prospecting expeditions to what was later identified as and named Frobisher Bay. In 1616 the island was visited by the English navigator William Baffin, after whom it is named.