Baffin Island is the largest island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.[1] It is one of the largest islands in the world, with an area of 305,000 square kilometers. Baffin Island is sparsely inhabited, with the capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit, with over 5,000 inhabitants, by far the largest settlement. Over half the population of Baffin Island lives in Iqaluit.[2]
To the east Baffin Bay separates Baffin Island from Greenland. The eastern mouth to the Northwest Passage lies just north of Baffin Island.
Other settlements include Pangnirtung, Pond Inlet, and Arctic Bay. A small naval base is being constructed at Nanisivik, a deep water port that was formerly the site of a mine, on the north coast of the Island.[3]