Banks Island (Canada)

Banks Island (Canada), island in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, situated in the Arctic Ocean. Banks Island is separated from the mainland by Amundsen Gulf and from Victoria Island by Prince of Wales Strait. The island is about 400 km (248 mi) long and has an area of 70,028 sq km (27,038 sq mi). The northern and southern portions are barren, rocky uplands; the western section is a tundra-covered lowland. The small population is mostly Inuit; the chief settlement is Sachs Harbour, in the south-west. Arctic foxes, arctic hare, caribou, lemmings, musk-oxen, seals, wolverines, wolves, and many species of birds inhabit the island. Whales are found offshore. Banks Island, named after the British naturalist Sir Joseph Banks, was sighted in 1820 by the British explorer Sir William Edward Parry. The first landing by Europeans was made in 1850 by the expedition led by Sir Robert McClure, who also named Prince of Wales Strait. The following year he charted some 80 per cent of the island's coastline.