27-531: The Wollaston Peninsula (previously, Wollaston Land ) is a west-pointing peninsula located on southwestern Victoria Island , Canada. It is bordered by Prince Albert Sound to the north, Amundsen Gulf to the west and Dolphin and Union Strait to the south. Most of the peninsula lies in Nunavut 's Kitikmeot Region but a smaller portion lies within the Northwest Territories 's Inuvik Region . The peninsula
54-507: A tundra climate ( Köppen ET ) typical of the Canadian Arctic with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Since the activities of many residents of the community revolve around fishing, hunting, and travel, many residents have considerable knowledge of weather conditions, permafrost , and even erosion patterns. In July 2010, Parks Canada archaeologists looking for HMS Investigator found it 15 minutes after they started
81-475: A fly-in park, protects about 12,274 km (4,739 sq mi) of Arctic lowlands at the northern end of the island. The park has the highest concentration of muskoxen on earth, and is home to the endangered Peary caribou . The Thomsen River runs through the park, and is the northernmost navigable river (by canoe ) in North America . Ptarmigan and ravens are considered the only year-round birds in
108-506: Is 225 km (140 mi) long, and between 97 and 113 km (60 and 70 mi) wide. Its westernmost point is Cape Baring . In 1826, its south coast was seen by John Richardson and his surveyor Edward Nicholas Kendall , and was named Wollaston Land, in honour of the English chemist William Hyde Wollaston , who discovered the elements palladium and rhodium . In 1851, John Rae went along most of its coast and proved that "Wollaston Land"
135-572: Is an island of peninsulas, having a heavily indented coastline with many inlets. In the east, pointing northwards, is the Storkerson Peninsula, which ends with the Goldsmith Channel , the body of water separating Victoria from Stefansson Island . The Storkerson Peninsula is separated from the island's north-central areas by Hadley Bay , a major inlet. Another, broad peninsula is found in the north, Prince Albert Peninsula . This ends at
162-552: Is home to at least fourteen mammal species including the Peary caribou , barren-ground caribou , and polar bears . At one time over 68,000 muskoxen lived on the island, the majority of the world's population. However, the bacterium Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae has led to a sharp decline in their numbers. The island is the summer home to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds who nest at Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 1 and Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 2. As of
189-694: Is one of the larger members of the Arctic Archipelago . Situated in the Inuvik Region , and part of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region , of the Northwest Territories , it is separated from Victoria Island to its east by the Prince of Wales Strait and from the mainland by Amundsen Gulf to its south. The Beaufort Sea lies to its west, and to its northeast M'Clure Strait separates the island from Prince Patrick Island and Melville Island . It
216-509: Is the largest lake on the island. It was said by Andrew Hund in his book, Antarctica and the Arctic Circle: A Geographic Encyclopedia of the Earth's Polar Regions , that the island resembles a stylized maple leaf, the predominant symbol of Canada . Victoria Island has a polar climate , with no month having an average temperature of 10 °C (50 °F) or higher, and is listed as ET on
243-593: The 2021 Canadian census the population of the island was 2,168; 1,760 in Nunavut and 408 in the Northwest Territories. Of the two settlements on the island the larger is Cambridge Bay , which lies on the south-east coast and is in Nunavut. Ulukhaktok is on the west coast and is in the Northwest Territories. Trading posts , such as Fort Collinson on the northwest coast, have long been abandoned. Download coordinates as: Banks Island Banks Island
270-561: The Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world , and at 217,291 km (83,897 sq mi) in area, it is Canada's second-largest island . It is nearly double the size of Newfoundland (111,390 km [43,010 sq mi]), and is slightly larger than the island of Great Britain (209,331 km [80,823 sq mi]) but smaller than Honshu (225,800 km [87,200 sq mi]). The western third of
297-545: The Dolphin and Union Strait from their summer grazing on Victoria Island to their winter grazing area on the Nunavut-NWT mainland. It is unusual for North American caribou to seasonally cross sea ice and the only other caribou to do so are the Peary caribou , which are smaller in size and population, and also occur on Victoria Island. Victoria Island contains the world's largest island within an island within an island . In
SECTION 10
#1732850988563324-671: The Köppen climate classification . Summers are typically cool and rainy, with pleasant days and chilly nights. Winters are cold, dark, and long, with October being the snowiest month. Snowfall and frosts are possible all year round. Rainfall is usually limited to the summer months, when the temperature shortly rises above freezing for a few months before dipping back down for another 9 months of winter. Springs are typically sunny but still very chilly. Autumns are short and crisp, with more frequent cloud cover starting to appear during August and with September being almost constantly cloudy. At Cambridge Bay,
351-531: The 2016 census it had a human population of 103, all in Sachs Harbour . Pre-Dorset cultural sites have been found that date from approximately 1500 BCE but European contact came much later. In 1820 it was seen from Melville Island by Sir William Edward Parry and named "Banks Land" in honour of Sir Joseph Banks . However, during the later exploration of the area by the McClure Arctic Expedition
378-607: The Prince of Wales Strait. In the south, and pointing westwards, is the Wollaston Peninsula , separated from the island's central areas by Prince Albert Sound. The highest point of Victoria Island is 655 m (2,149 ft) in the Shaler Mountains in the north-central region. Located in the southeast, just north of Cambridge Bay, is Tahiryuaq (formerly Ferguson Lake) . With an area of 562 km (217 sq mi), it
405-407: The Storkerson Peninsula. In 2008 Clark Carter and Chris Bray became the first recorded people to walk across Victoria Island. Their first attempt at the 1,000 km (620 mi) trek in 2005 failed, so they returned and completed the remaining 660 km (410 mi) in 2008. Viscount Melville Sound lies to the north, and the M'Clintock Channel and Victoria Strait lie eastward. On
432-484: The ice. The only permanent settlement on the island is the Inuvialuit hamlet of Sachs Harbour (Ikahuak), on the southwest coast. Banks Island covers an area 70,028 km (27,038 sq mi) and it is the world's 24th largest island and Canada's fifth largest island . It is about 380 km (240 mi) long, and at its widest point at the northern end, 290 km (180 mi) across. The highest point of
459-503: The island is in the south, Durham Heights and rises to about 730 m (2,400 ft). The island is treeless, with the tallest plant, the Arctic willow , growing occasionally to about the height of a person's knee but usually standing no taller than 10 cm (3.9 in). Banks Island is home to a large colony of lesser snow geese , which make their way across the Amundsen Gulf from
486-484: The island lies in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories; the remainder is part of Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region . The population of 2,168 is divided between two settlements, the larger of which is Cambridge Bay (Nunavut) and the other Ulukhaktok (Northwest Territories). The island is named after Queen Victoria , the Canadian sovereign from 1867 to 1901 (though she first became Queen in 1837). The features bearing
513-408: The island was marked on their maps as "Baring Island". McClure's ship, HMS Investigator , was frozen in Prince of Wales Strait. That spring he sent out sledging parties and determined that Banks Island was an island. In the following year he almost circumnavigated the island but was again frozen in at Mercy Bay where he and his crew spent the next three months before making their escape across
540-431: The mainland. There is an annual goose hunt in the spring out of Sachs Harbour. The island is part of the tundra world biome , which has extremely cold winters. The island is home to barren-ground caribou , polar bears , muskoxen , and birds, including year round residents the common raven and ptarmigan . Two federal migratory bird sanctuaries were founded on the island in 1961. Aulavik National Park of Canada,
567-512: The name "Prince Albert" are named after her consort, Albert . Victoria Island was inhabited by the Thule culture , with five prehistoric qamutiik (sleds) belonging to the Neoeskimo culture being found on the Wollaston Peninsula , dating to 1250–1573 AD. The Inuinnaqtun name for the island is Kitlineq , with the local Inuit people called Kitlinermiut ( Copper Inuit ). In 1826 John Richardson
SECTION 20
#1732850988563594-461: The park, although 43 species make seasonal use of the area. In Inuvialuktun , Aulavik means "place where people travel" and the "wildlife and land have supported aboriginal peoples for more than 3,400 years, from Pre-Dorset cultures to contemporary Inuvialuit." The first confirmed grizzly–polar bear hybrid found in the wild was shot on Banks Island in April 2006, near Sachs Harbour. Banks Island has
621-501: The sun is continuously below the horizon, polar night , from approximately 30 November to 11 January and above the horizon, midnight sun , 19 May to 22 July. The Dolphin-Union caribou herd locally known as Island Caribou are a migratory population of barren-ground caribou , Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus , that occupy Victoria Island in Canada's High Arctic and the nearby mainland. They are endemic to Canada. They migrate across
648-460: The two "lands". In 1850 and 1851 Robert McClure circumnavigated most of Banks Island, thereby separating it from the rest of Victoria Land. His men also charted the northwest and west coasts of Victoria Island. One of Roald Amundsen 's men, Godfred Hansen, charted its east coast as far as Cape Nansen in 1905, and in 1916 and 1917 Storker T. Storkerson, of Vilhjalmur Stefansson 's Canadian Arctic Expedition , charted its northeast coast, sighting
675-713: The west are Amundsen Gulf and Banks Island , which is separated from Victoria by a long sound called the Prince of Wales Strait . To the south (from west to east) lie the Dolphin and Union Strait , Austin Bay , Coronation Gulf and the Dease Strait . 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
702-399: Was connected to that was called "Victoria Land" to the east. This Canadian Northwest Territories location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This Kitikmeot Region , Nunavut location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Victoria Island (Canada) Victoria Island ( Inuinnaqtun : Kitlineq ) is a large island in
729-410: Was the first European to see the southwest coast and called it "Wollaston Land". In 1839, Peter Warren Dease and Thomas Simpson followed its southeast coast and called it "Victoria Land". A map published by John Barrow in 1846 shows a complete blank from these two lands north to "Banks Land" which is the north coast of Banks Island . In 1851 John Rae charted its entire south coast and connected
#562437