Alert, Nunavut
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Alert is the northernmost permanently inhabited place in the world. It is located at , about 10 km west of Cape Sheridan, the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island, on the shore of ice-covered Lincoln Sea, in the territory of Nunavut in Canada. Alert lies just 817 km (507 mi) from the north pole.
Alert had 5 permanent inhabitants in the 2001 census. Alert also has many temporary inhabitants as it hosts a military signals intelligence radio receiving facility at Canadian Forces Station Alert (CFS Alert), as well as a co-located Environment Canada weather station, a GAW atmosphere monitoring laboratory, and the Alert Airport.
The settlement is surrounded by a rugged terrain of hills and valleys. The shore is composed primarily of slate and shale, and the sea is covered with pack ice year-round. The local climate is actually semi-arid. However, evaporation rates are also very low, as average monthly temperatures are above freezing only in July and August. There is 24-hour daylight from the last week of March until the middle of September and the sun is above the horizon from mid-April through August. From mid-October through the end of February the sun does not rise above the horizon and there is 24-hour darkness.
Sir George Nares was the first known person to reach the northern end of Ellesmere Island; he arrived on HMS Alert in 1875–1876. The weather station was established in 1950, and the military station in 1958.
Other places on Ellesmere Island are the research base at Eureka and the Inuit community of Grise Fiord.
The nearest large Canadian city to Alert is Edmonton, Alberta, which at 3578 km (2223 miles) is more distant than Oslo, Norway at 3192 km (1983 miles).
As of April 13, 2006 the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation was reporting that the heating costs for the station had risen. As a result of the rising costs the Canadian Forces proposed cutbacks to support jobs by using private contractors [1].
In early April 2006 the Roly McLenahan Torch that will be used to light the flame in Whitehorse, Yukon for the 2007 Canada Games passed through Alert.
In August 2006, the Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, made a visit to Alert as part of his campaign to promote Canadian sovereignty in the north.
