Victoria Island (Canada)

Victoria Island

Geography
Location	Northern Canada
Archipelago	Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Area	217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi)[1]
Area rank	8th
Country
Canada
Territories	Northwest Territories  Nunavut
Largest city	Cambridge Bay (pop. 1,477)
Demographics
Population	1,875 (as of 2006)
Ethnic groups	Inuit

Victoria Island (or Kitlineq)^[2][3] is an island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth largest island in the world, and at 217,291 km² (83,897 sq mi)¹ is Canada's second largest island. It is nearly double the size of Newfoundland (111,390 km² (43,008 sq mi)), and is slightly larger than the island of Great Britain (209,331 km² (80,823 sq mi). The western third of the island belongs to the Inuvik Region in the Northwest Territories and the remainder is part of Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region.

Location and description

Viscount Melville Sound^map1 lies to the north, and the M'Clintock Channel^map2 and Victoria Strait^map3 lie eastward. On the west are Amundsen Gulf^map4 and Banks Island,^map5 which is separated from Victoria by a long sound called the Prince of Wales Strait.^map6 To the south (from west to east) lies the Dolphin and Union Strait,^map7 Austin Bay,^map8 Coronation Gulf^map9 and the Dease Strait.^map10

The southern waterways, and sometimes the Prince of Wales Strait, form part of the disputed Northwest Passage which the Government of Canada claims are Canadian Internal Waters, while other nations state they are either territorial waters or international waters.

Victoria Island is an island of peninsulas, having a heavily indented coastline with many inlets. In the east, pointing northwards, is the Storkerson Peninsula,^map11 which ends with the Goldsmith Channel,^map12 the body of water separating Victoria from Stefansson Island.^map13 The Storkerson Peninsula is separated from the island's north-central areas by Hadley Bay,^map14 a major inlet. Another, broad peninsula is found in the north, Prince Albert Peninsula.^map15 This ends at the Prince of Wales Strait. In the south, and pointing westwards, is the Wollaston Peninsula,^map16 separated from the island's central areas by Prince Albert Sound. The island as a whole coincidentally resembles a stylized maple leaf, the main Canadian symbol.

Closeup map of Victoria Island

Victoria Island reaches an elevation of 655 m (2,149 ft) in the Shaler Mountains^map17 in the north-central region. Located in the southeast, just north of Cambridge Bay is Ferguson Lake^map18 with an area of 562 km² (217 sq mi) is the largest lake on the island.^[4]

As of the Canada 2006 Census the population of the island is 1,875; 1,477 in Nunavut and 398 in the Northwest Territories. Of the two settlements on the island the largest is Cambridge Bay,^map19 which lies on the south-east coast and is in Nunavut. Ulukhaktok^map20 is on the west coast and is in the Northwest Territories. Trading posts, such as Fort Collinson^map21 on the northwest coast, have long since been abandoned.

The island is named after Queen Victoria, the Canadian sovereign from 1867 to 1901. The features bearing the name "Prince Albert" are named after her consort.

Although Victoria Island is located in Canada, it is more than 2,000 km (1,200 mi) from the city of Victoria, British Columbia, which is on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean. The island should not be confused with the smaller Victoria Island, also in Nunavut, located in Amadjuak Lake on Baffin Island.^[5]

Notes

• ^1 The United Nations Environment Programme says that Victoria Island has an area of 220,548 km² (85,154 sq mi).^[6] However, the Atlas of Canada indicates the island is 217,291 km² (83,897 sq mi).^[1]

Maps

References

Further reading

External links

• Map of Victoria Island at the Atlas of Canada
• Victoria Island Expedition