Canadian Arctic Archipelago

Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Archipel arctique canadien (fr)

Polar projection map of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Geography
Location	Northern Canada
Coordinates
Total islands	36,563
Major islands	Baffin Island, Victoria Island, Ellesmere Island
Area
Country
Canada
Territories	Nunavut Northwest Territories
Largest settlement	Iqaluit, Nunavut (pop. 6,184)
Demographics
Population	14,000
Density	0.01 /km2 (0.03 /sq mi)

The Canadian Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Arctic Archipelago, is a Canadian archipelago north of the Canadian mainland in the Arctic. 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 comprises much of the territory of Northern Canada – most of Nunavut and part of the Northwest Territories. The Canadian Arctic Archipelago is showing some effects of global warming, with some computer estimates determining that melting there will contribute 3.5 cm (1.4 in) to the rise in sea levels by 2100.

History

British claims on the islands were based on the explorations in the 1570s by Martin Frobisher. Canadian sovereignty, originally (1870–80) only over island portions that drained into Foxe Basin, Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, over all of them was not established until the 1880 transfer by Britain to Canada of the remaining islands; the District of Franklin was established in 1895, which comprised almost all of the archipelago; the district was dissolved upon the creation of Nunavut in 1999. Canada claims all the waterways of the Northwestern Passages as Canadian Internal Waters; however the United States and most other maritime countries view these as international waters. Disagreement over the passages' status has raised Canadian concerns about environmental enforcement, national security, and general sovereignty. Hans Island, in the Nares Strait east of Ellesmere Island, is a territory currently contested between Canada and Denmark.

Geography

Satellite image of Baffin Island, the largest island by total area of the Arctic Archipelago

Satellite image montage showing Ellesmere Island and its neighbours, including Axel Heiberg Island (left of Ellesmere). Greenland is to the right in this photo.

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 Northwestern Passages. Two large peninsulas, Boothia and Melville, extend northward from the mainland.

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). 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 (2001)
			World	Canada
Baffin Island	NU	507,451 km2 (195,928 sq mi)	5	1	9,563
Victoria Island	NT, NU	217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi)	8	2	1,707
Ellesmere Island	NU	196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi)	10	3	168
Banks Island	NT	70,028 km2 (27,038 sq mi)	24	5	114
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	721
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	1279
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 areas. Most of the islands are uninhabited; human settlement is extremely thin and scattered, being mainly coastal Inuit settlements on the southern islands.

Map with links to islands

King Christian Borden Lougheed Brock Mackenzie King Helena Cameron Emerald Prince Patrick Île Vanier Eglinton Alexander Bathurst Melville Byam Martin Banks Stefansson Russell Prince of Wales Prescott Somerset Victoria King William Matty Wales Belcher Long Akimiski Charlton

Ellesmere Meighen Axel Heiberg Ellef Ringnes Amund Ringnes Cornwall Graham North Kent Baillie-Hamilton Little Cornwallis Cornwallis Devon Bylot Baffin Jens Munk Koch Bray Rowley Foley Air Force Prince Charles Vansittart White Southampton Resolution Loks Akpatok Big Salisbury Nottingham Mansel Coats

Islands not on map

• Beechey
• Duke of York
• Gateshead
• Haig-Thomas
• Hans
• Killiniq

• Jenny Lind
• Ottawa
• Prince Leopold
• Skraeling
• Trodeley
• Weston

Mapping

|style="width: 33.33%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" |

• ^map 1 King Christian Island,
• ^map 2 Borden Island,
• ^map 3 Lougheed Island,
• ^map 4 Brock Island,
• ^map 5 Mackenzie King Island,
• ^map 6 Helena Island,
• ^map 7 Cameron Island,
• ^map 8 Emerald Isle,
• ^map 9 Prince Patrick Island,
• ^map 10 Île Vanier,
• ^map 11 Eglinton Island,
• ^map 12 Alexander Island,
• ^map 13 Bathurst Island,
• ^map 14 Melville Island,
• ^map 15 Byam Martin Island,
• ^map 16 Banks Island,
• ^map 17 Stefansson Island,
• ^map 18 Russell Island,
• ^map 19 Prince of Wales Island,
• ^map 20 Prescott Island,
• ^map 21 Somerset Island,
• ^map 22 Victoria Island,
• ^map 23 King William Island,
• ^map 24 Matty Island,

|style="width: 33.33%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" |

• ^map 25 Wales Island,
• ^map 26 Belcher Islands,
• ^map 27 Long Island,
• ^map 28 Akimiski Island,
• ^map 29 Charlton Island,
• ^map 30 Ellesmere Island,
• ^map 31 Meighen Island,
• ^map 32 Axel Heiberg Island,
• ^map 33 Ellef Ringnes Island,
• ^map 34 Amund Ringnes Island,
• ^map 35 Cornwall Island,
• ^map 36 Graham Island,
• ^map 37 North Kent Island,
• ^map 38 Baillie-Hamilton Island,
• ^map 39 Little Cornwallis Island,
• ^map 40 Cornwallis Island,
• ^map 41 Devon Island,
• ^map 42 Bylot Island,
• ^map 43 Baffin Island,
• ^map 44 Jens Munk Island,
• ^map 45 Koch Island,
• ^map 46 Bray Island,
• ^map 47 Rowley Island,
• ^map 48 Foley Island,

|style="width: 33.33%;text-align:left;vertical-align:top;" |

• ^map 49 Air Force Island,
• ^map 50 Prince Charles Island,
• ^map 51 Vansittart Island,
• ^map 52 White Island,
• ^map 53 Southampton Island,
• ^map 54 Resolution Island,
• ^map 55 Loks Land Island,
• ^map 56 Akpatok Island,
• ^map 57 Big Island,
• ^map 58 Salisbury Island,
• ^map 59 Nottingham Island,
• ^map 60 Mansel Island,
• ^map 61 Coats Island,
• ^map 62 Beechey Island,
• ^map 63 Duke of York Archipelago,
• ^map 64 Gateshead Island,
• ^map 65 Haig-Thomas Island,
• ^map 66 Hans Island,
• ^map 67 Killiniq Island,
• ^map 68 Jenny Lind Island,
• ^map 69 Ottawa Islands,
• ^map 70 Prince Leopold Island,
• ^map 71 Skraeling Island,
• ^map 72 Trodely Island,
• ^map 73 Weston Island,

See also

• British Arctic Territories
• List of islands of Canada
• List of Canadian islands by area

Further reading

• Aiken, S.G., M.J. Dallwitz, L.L. Consaul, et al. Flora of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago: Descriptions, Illustrations, Identification, and Information Retrieval[CD]. Ottawa: NRC Research Press; Ottawa: Canadian Museum of Nature, 2007. ISBN 978-0-660-19727-2.
• Aiken, S. G., Laurie Lynn Consaul, and M. J. Dallwitz. Grasses of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ottawa: Research Division, Canadian Museum of Nature, 1995.
• Bouchard, Giselle. Freshwater Diatom Biogeography of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ottawa: Library and Archives Canada = Bibliothèque et Archives Canada, 2005. ISBN 0-494-01424-5
• Brown, Roger James Evan. Permafrost in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. National Research Council of Canada, Division of Building Research, 1972.
• Cota GF, LW Cooper, DA Darby, and IL Larsen. 2006. "Unexpectedly High Radioactivity Burdens in Ice-Rafted Sediments from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago". The Science of the Total Environment. 366, no. 1: 253-61.
• Dunphy, Michael. Validation of a modelling system for tides in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Canadian technical report of hydrography and ocean sciences, 243. Dartmouth, N.S.: Fisheries and Oceans Canada, 2005.
• Hamilton, Paul B., Konrad Gajewski, David E. Atkinson, and David R.S. Lean. 2001. "Physical and Chemical Limnology of 204 Lakes from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago". Hydrobiologia. 457, no. 1/3: 133-148.
• Mi︠a︡rss, Tiĭu, Mark V. H. Wilson, and R. Thorsteinsson. Silurian and Lower Devonian Thelodonts and Putative Chondrichthyans from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Special papers in palaeontology, no. 75. London: Palaeontological Association, 2006. ISBN 0-901702-99-4
• Michel, C Ingram, R G, and L R Harris. 2006. "Variability in Oceanographic and Ecological Processes in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago". Progress in Oceanography. 71, no. 2: 379.
• Porsild, A.E. The Vascular Plants of the Western Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ottawa: E. Cloutier, Queen's printer, 1955.
• Rae, R. W. Climate of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Toronto: Canada Dept. of Transport, 1951.
• Thorsteinsson, R., and Ulrich Mayr. The Sedimentary Rocks of Devon Island, Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ottawa, Canada: Geological Survey of Canada, 1987. ISBN 0-660-12319-3
• Van der Baaren, Augustine, and S. J. Prinsenberg. Geostrophic transport estimates from the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Dartmouth, N.S.: Ocean Sciences Division, Maritimes Region, Fisheries and Oceans Canada, Bedford Institute of Oceanography, 2002.