Nunavut became Canada’s largest and
newest territory in 1999, when it was separated from the Northwest Territories. It emerged from around 20 years of negotiations by the
Inuit communities that constitute about 80% of the population of this Arctic Territory. Nunavut means ’our land’ in the language of the Inuit people, Inuktitut, and it is a land that is both Canadian and
uniquely distinct from the country’s other provinces and territories.
In Nunavut is a
wilderness that forms one-fifth of Canada.
Polar bears dot the landscape,
whales the seascape; and it is possible to do all those things that visitors may associate with the Arctic, from enjoying a
dog sled to exploring an
igloo to watching the
northern lights (
Aurora Borealis) illumine the dense darkness.
There are also less traditional but equally adventurous activities to get your teeth into, such as mountain and
rock climbing or challenging
hikes across breathtaking
national parks. The landscape is one of ice and snow but also spectacular flora and fauna, all the more startling and beautiful for their sparseness and their contrast to the barren scene that they have managed to wriggle out of and flourish in.
Any visitor to Nunavut will most likely also flourish, in an area with plenty of
indigenous history and plenty of
stunning tundra,
mountains and deep
fjords.
GeographyThe Nunavut Territory covers one-fifth of Canada, stretching from Ellesmere Island off Greenland’s north coast to a border that runs north from the Saskatchewan/Manitoba border and then angles west to the arctic coast near Amundsen Gulf. The mainland portion of the territory is an untouched wilderness, where the stark northern tundra changes into cliffs and plateau along the Northwest Passage. To the north and east, the Arctic Islands are surrounded by pack ice for most of the year and the region extends to the glaciers, jagged mountains and fjords of the eastern shores of Baffin and Ellesmere Islands.
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