Arctic Archipelago

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).

Arctic Archipelago
Archipel Arctique Canadien (Quebec French)

Polar projection map of the Arctic Archipelago
Geography
Location	Northern Canada
Coordinates	75°N 90°W
Total islands	36,563
Major islands	Baffin Island, Victoria Island, Ellesmere Island
Area	1,407,770 km2 (543,540 sq mi)
Administration
Canada
Territories and province	Nunavut Northwest Territories Yukon Newfoundland and Labrador
Largest settlement	Iqaluit, Nunavut (pop. 7,429)
Demographics
Population	23,073 (2021)
Pop. density	0.0098/km2 (0.0254/sq mi)

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. The archipelago is showing some effects of climate change, 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

Around 2500 BCE, the first humans, the Paleo-Eskimos, arrived in the archipelago from the Canadian mainland. Between 1000 and 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. 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. 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.

Geography

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

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). 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
Victoria Island	NT, NU	217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi)	8	2	2,168
Ellesmere Island	NU	196,236 km2 (75,767 sq mi)	10	3	144
Banks Island	NT	70,028 km2 (27,038 sq mi)	24	5	104
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
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
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.

Map with links to islands

Reference map of Canadian Arctic Archipelago

• King Christian^{map 1}
• Borden^{map 2}
• Lougheed^{map 3}
• Brock^{map 4}
• Mackenzie King^{map 5}
• Helena^{map 6}
• Cameron^{map 7}
• Emerald^{map 8}
• Prince Patrick^{map 9}
• Île Vanier^{map 10}
• Eglinton^{map 11}
• Alexander^{map 12}
• Bathurst^{map 13}
• Melville^{map 14}
• Byam Martin^{map 15}
• Banks^{map 16}
• Stefansson^{map 17}
• Russell^{map 18}
• Prince of Wales^{map 19}
• Prescott^{map 20}
• Somerset^{map 21}
• Victoria^{map 22}
• King William^{map 23}
• Matty^{map 24}
• Wales^{map 25}
• Belcher^{map 26}
• Long^{map 27}
• Akimiski^{map 28}
• Charlton^{map 29}
• Ellesmere^{map 30}
• Meighen^{map 31}
• Axel Heiberg^{map 32}
• Ellef Ringnes^{map 33}
• Amund Ringnes^{map 34}
• Cornwall^{map 35}
• Graham^{map 36}
• North Kent^{map 37}
• Baillie-Hamilton^{map 38}
• Little Cornwallis^{map 39}
• Cornwallis^{map 40 A}
• Devon^{map 41}
• Bylot^{map 42}
• Baffin^{map 43}
• Kapuiviit^{map 44 B}
• Koch^{map 45}
• Bray^{map 46}
• Rowley^{map 47}
• Foley^{map 48}
• Air Force^{map 49}
• Prince Charles^{map 50}
• Nagjuttuuq^{map 51 C}
• Qikiqtaaluk (Foxe Basin)^{map 52 D}
• Southampton^{map 53}
• Resolution^{map 54}
• Loks^{map 55}
• Akpatok^{map 56}
• Qikiqtarjuaq (Hudson Strait)^{map 57 E}
• Salisbury^{map 58}
• Nottingham^{map 59}
• Mansel^{map 60}
• Coats^{map 61}

Islands not on map

• Beechey^{map 62}
• Broughton^{map 63 F}
• Cape Chidley^{map 64}
• Dorset^{map 65 G}
• Duke of York^{map 66}
• East Pen^{map 67}
• Flaherty^{map 68 H}
• Haig-Thomas^{map 69}
• Hans^{map 70}
• Herschel^{map 71}
• Igloolik^{map 72 I}
• Killiniq^{map 73}
• Ottawa^{map 74}
• Prince Leopold^{map 75}
• Qikiqtaryuaq^{map 76 J}
• Skraeling^{map 77}
• Trodely^{map 78}
• Umingmalik^{map 79 K}
• Weston^{map 80}

Notes

• ^A Population: 183
• ^B Formerly Jens Munk Island
• ^C Formerly Vansittart Island
• ^D Formerly White Island
• ^E Formerly Big Island
• ^F Population: 593
• ^G Population: 1,396
• ^H Population: 1,010
• ^I Population: 2,049
• ^J Formerly Jenny Lind Island
• ^K Formerly Gateshead Island

Communities

Iqaluit

Community	Island	Region, territory	Population
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

Populated islands

Of the more than 36,000 islands, only 11 are populated. Baffin Island, the largest, also has the largest population of 13,309. 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.

Island	Population	Area (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

Mapping

• ^map 1 King Christian, 77°45′N 102°00′W
• ^map 2 Borden, 78°33′N 111°10′W
• ^map 3 Lougheed, 77°24′N 105°15′W
• ^map 4 Brock, 77°51′N 114°27′W
• ^map 5 Mackenzie King 77°43′N 111°57′W
• ^map 6 Helena, 76°40′N 101°00′W
• ^map 7 Cameron, 77°48′N 101°51′W
• ^map 8 Emerald Isle, 76°48′N 114°07′W
• ^map 9 Prince Patrick, 76°45′N 119°30′W
• ^map 10 Île Vanier, 76°10′N 103°15′W
• ^map 11 Eglinton, 75°46′N 118°27′W
• ^map 12 Alexander, 75°52′N 102°37′W
• ^map 13 Bathurst, 75°46′N 099°47′W
• ^map 14 Melville, 75°30′N 111°30′W
• ^map 15 Byam Martin, 75°12′N 104°17′W
• ^map 16 Banks, 73°00′N 121°30′W
• ^map 17 Stefansson, 73°30′N 105°30′W
• ^map 18 Russell, 74°00′N 098°25′W
• ^map 19 Prince of Wales, 72°36′N 098°32′W
• ^map 20 Prescott, 73°03′N 096°49′W
• ^map 21 Somerset, 73°15′N 093°30′W
• ^map 22 Victoria, 71°00′N 110°00′W
• ^map 23 King William, 68°58′N 097°14′W
• ^map 24 Matty, 69°28′N 095°40′W
• ^map 25 Wales, 68°01′N 086°40′W
• ^map 26 Belcher, 56°20′N 079°30′W
• ^map 27 Long, 54°52′N 079°25′W
• ^map 28 Akimiski, 53°00′N 081°20′W
• ^map 29 Charlton, 52°00′N 079°26′W
• ^map 30 Ellesmere, 79°49′N 078°00′W
• ^map 31 Meighen, 79°59′N 099°30′W
• ^map 32 Axel Heiberg, 79°26′N 090°46′W
• ^map 33 Ellef Ringnes, 78°37′N 101°56′W
• ^map 34 Amund Ringnes, 78°19′N 096°25′W
• ^map 35 Cornwall, 77°37′N 094°52′W
• ^map 36 Graham, 77°26′N 090°30′W
• ^map 37 North Kent, 76°40′N 090°15′W
• ^map 38 Baillie-Hamilton, 75°53′N 094°35′W
• ^map 39 Little Cornwallis, 75°30′N 096°30′W
• ^map 40 Cornwallis, 75°05′N 095°00′W
• ^map 41 Devon, 75°15′N 088°00′W
• ^map 42 Bylot, 73°13′N 078°34′W
• ^map 43 Baffin, 69°00′N 072°00′W
• ^map 44 Jens Munk, 69°40′N 079°40′W
• ^map 45 Koch, 69°35′N 078°20′W
• ^map 46 Bray, 69°20′N 077°00′W
• ^map 47 Rowley, 69°05′N 078°52′W
• ^map 48 Foley, 68°30′N 075°00′W
• ^map 49 Air Force, 67°58′N 074°05′W
• ^map 50 Prince Charles, 67°45′N 076°00′W
• ^map 51 Vansittart, 65°50′N 084°00′W
• ^map 52 White, 65°46′N 084°53′W
• ^map 53 Southampton, 64°30′N 084°30′W
• ^map 54 Resolution, 61°35′N 065°00′W
• ^map 55 Loks Land, 62°26′N 064°38′W
• ^map 56 Akpatok, 60°25′N 068°08′W
• ^map 57 Big, 62°43′N 070°43′W
• ^map 58 Salisbury, 63°35′N 077°00′W
• ^map 59 Nottingham, 63°17′N 077°55′W
• ^map 60 Mansel, 62°00′N 079°50′W
• ^map 61 Coats, 62°35′N 082°45′W
• ^map 62 Beechey, 74°43′N 091°51′W
• ^map 63 Broughton, 67°34′N 063°54′W
• ^map 64 Cape Chidley, 60°25′45″N 64°27′50″W
• ^map 65 Dorset, 64°12′N 76°32′W
• ^map 66 Duke of York, 68°15′N 112°30′W
• ^map 67 East Pen, 56°45′N 088°40′W
• ^map 68 Flaherty, 56°14′N 079°17′W
• ^map 69 Haig-Thomas, 78°15′N 094°30′W
• ^map 70 Hans, 80°49′N 066°27′W
• ^map 71 Herschel, 69°35′N 139°04′W
• ^map 72 Igloolik, 69°23′N 081°40′W
• ^map 73 Killiniq, 60°22′N 064°37′W
• ^map 74 Ottawa, 59°34′N 080°16′W
• ^map 75 Prince Leopold, 74°01′N 090°04′W
• ^map 76 Jenny Lind, 68°43′N 101°58′W
• ^map 77 Skraeling, 78°55′N 075°40′W
• ^map 78 Trodely, 52°14′N 079°26′W
• ^map 79 Gateshead, 70°35′N 100°25′W
• ^map 80 Weston, 52°32′N 079°35′W

See also

• Last Ice Area
• List of Canadian islands by area
• List of islands of Canada
• Geography of Canada

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.
• Balkwill, H.R.; Embry, Ashton F. (1982). Arctic Geology and Geophysics: Proceedings of the Third International Symposium on Arctic Geology (Hardcover). Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. ISBN 0-920230-19-9.
• Bouchard, Giselle. Freshwater Diatom Biogeography of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Ottawa: Library and 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.
• Glass, Donald J.; Embry, Ashton F.; McMillan, N. J. (26 February 1988). Devonian of the World: Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on the Devonian System (Hardcover). Calgary, Canada: Canadian Society of Petroleum Geologists. ISBN 0-920230-47-4.
• 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.