Fraser Island (Nunavut)

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Fraser Island
Geography
Location Hudson Bay
Coordinates 63°29′N 78°30′W / 63.48°N 78.5°W / 63.48; -78.5 (Fraser Island)Coordinates: 63°29′N 78°30′W / 63.48°N 78.5°W / 63.48; -78.5 (Fraser Island)
Archipelago Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Area 55 km2 (21 sq mi)
Country
Nunavut  Nunavut
Region Qikiqtaaluk
Demographics
Population Uninhabited

Fraser Island is an uninhabited island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located at the mouth of Hudson Bay off Nottingham Island's northwestern tip. The closet community is the Inuit hamlet of Cape Dorset, 120 km (75 mi) to the northeast on Baffin Island.

Geography

The island's habitat is characterized by tundra, inlets, coastal marine features, coastal cliffs, and rocky marine shores.

Fauna

Fraser Island is a Canadian Important Bird Area (#NU024), as well as a Key Migratory Bird Terrestrial Habitat site (NU Site 46). Notable bird species include Common Eider as well as Colonial Waterbirds/Seabirds.[1]

History

In 1965, the previously unnamed island was named in honor of Robert James Fraser (1887–1965), first Dominion Hydrographer.[2]

References

  1. "Fraser Island". bsc-eoc.org. Retrieved 2009-05-06. 
  2. Rayburn, Alan (2001). Naming Canada: stories about Canadian place names. University of Toronto Press. p. 227. ISBN 0-8020-8293-9. 


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