Qikiqtaaluk Region

Region of Nunavut, Canada

"Qikiqtani" redirects here. For the school division, see Qikiqtani School Operations.

Region in Nunavut, Canada

Qikiqtaaluk

ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ (Inuktitut)

Region

Qikiqtaaluk Region

Arctic Bay

Kinngait

Clyde River

Grise Fiord

Sanirajak

Igloolik

Iqaluit

Kimmirut

Pangnirtung

Pond Inlet

Qikiqtarjuaq

Resolute

Sanikiluaq

Alert

Eureka

Communities of the Qikiqtaaluk

Location in Nunavut

Country| Canada
Territory| Nunavut
Regional centre| Iqaluit
Area

• Total

| 970,554.61 km2 (374,733.23 sq mi)
Population

• Total

| 19,355
• Density| 0.020/km2 (0.052/sq mi)

This article contains Canadian Aboriginal syllabic characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of syllabics.

The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ pronounced [qikiqtaːˈluk]) or the Baffin Region is the easternmost,[1] northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut name for Baffin Island.[2] Although the Qikiqtaaluk Region is the most commonly used name in official contexts, several notable public organizations, including Statistics Canada prior to the 2021 Canadian census,[3] use the older term Baffin Region.

With a population of 19,355 and an area of 970,554.61 km2 (374,733.23 sq mi), slightly smaller than Egypt, it is the largest and most populated of the three regions.[4] It is also the largest second-level administrative division in the world.

The region consists of Baffin Island, the Belcher Islands, Akimiski Island, Mansel Island, Prince Charles Island, Bylot Island, Devon Island, Baillie-Hamilton Island, Cornwallis Island, Bathurst Island, Amund Ringnes Island, Ellef Ringnes Island, Axel Heiberg Island, Ellesmere Island, the Melville Peninsula, the eastern part of Melville Island, and the northern parts of both Prince of Wales Island and Somerset Island, plus smaller islands in between. The regional centre, and territorial capital, is Iqaluit (population 7,429).[5] The Qikiqtaaluk Region spans the northernmost, easternmost, and southernmost areas of Nunavut.

Before 1999, the Qikiqtaaluk Region existed under slightly different boundaries in the Northwest Territories as the Baffin Region, in the northern part of the District of Keewatin.

The western half of the nearby Hans Island is part of the Qikiqtaaluk, while the eastern half is part of Greenland and is in the municipality of Avannaata.

## Communities

[edit]

All of Qikiqtaaluk's thirteen communities are located on tidal water and just under half of its residents live in Nunavut's capital and only city, Iqaluit (7,429.[5]). The majority of the rest live in twelve hamlets—Arctic Bay (994[6]), Kinngait (1,396[7]), Clyde River (1,181[8]), Grise Fiord (144[9]), Sanirajak (891[10]), Igloolik (2,049[11]), Kimmirut (426[12]), Pangnirtung (1,504[13]), Pond Inlet (1,555[14]), Qikiqtarjuaq (593[15]), Resolute (183[16]) and Sanikiluaq (1,010[17]). Alert (CFS Alert) and Eureka are part of Qikiqtaaluk, Unorganized (permanent population 0[18]) areas in the Qikiqtaaluk.

Formerly, there was a mining town at Nanisivik. However, it and the Nanisivik Mine closed in 2002, with Nanisivik Airport closing in 2010 and all flights transferred to Arctic Bay Airport.

Like the majority of Canada's Inuit communities, the region's traditional foods include seal, Arctic char, walrus, polar bear, and caribou.[1]

Inhabitants of the Qikiqtaaluk Region are called Qikiqtaalungmiut.[citation needed]

## Iqaluit

[edit]

Mount Odin, Auyuittuq National Park Iqaluit waterfront, 2011

Iqaluit has the Astro Hill Complex, the Nunatta Sunakkutaangit Museum and the Legislative Building of Nunavut and the Unikkaarvik Visitors Centre.

## Pre-contact

[edit]

According to anthropologists and historians, the Inuit are the descendants of the Thule people who displaced the Dorset culture (in Inuktitut, the Tuniit).[19][20] By 1300 the Inuit had trade routes with more southern cultures.[21]

## History

[edit]

About 1910, Europeans markets increased their interest in white fox pelts. The distribution and mobility of Inuit changed as they expanded their traditional hunting and fishing routes to participate in the white fox fur trade. Traditional food staples—such as seal and caribou—were not always found in the same regions as white fox.[1] The Hudson's Bay Company—which was chartered in 1670—had been opening fur trading posts throughout Inuit and First Nations territory. By 1910, the HBC was restructured into a lands sales department, retail and fur trade. The HBC dominated the fur trade under minimal supervision from the Canadian government, and some Anglican and Catholic missionaries who lived near remote northern hamlets. By 1922, most of imported goods acquired by Inuit were from the HBC.[1]

## Protected areas

[edit]

Sirmilik National Park

* Auyuittuq National Park
* Bowman Bay Wildlife Sanctuary
* Katannilik Territorial Park Reserve
* Kekerten Territorial Park
* Mallikjuak Territorial Park
* Pisuktinu-Tunngavik Territorial Park
* Polar Bear Pass National Wildlife Area
* Quammaarviit Territorial Park
* Quttinirpaaq National Park
* Sirmilik National Park
* Sylvia Grinnell Territorial Park

## Demographics

[edit]

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Qikiqtaaluk Region had a population of 19,355 living in 5,530 of its 6,573 total private dwellings, a change of 1.9% from its 2016 population of 18,988. With a land area of 970,554.61 km2 (374,733.23 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.0/km2 (0.1/sq mi) in 2021.[22]

## Surrounding census divisions

[edit]

* Division No. 11, Newfoundland and Labrador (Nunatsiavut)
* Division No. 23, Manitoba
* Inuvik Region
* Kivalliq Region
* Kitikmeot Region

## See also

[edit]

* Geography portal
* Canada portal

* Akudnirmiut Inuit
* Netsilik Inuit
* Ellesmere Island Volcanics
* Strathcona Fiord

## References

[edit]

1. ^ a b c d Philip Goldring (Winter 2015). "Historians and Inuit: learning from the Qikiqtani Truth Commission, 2007-2010". Canadian Journal of History. 50 (3). University of Toronto via GALE: 492–523\. doi:10.3138/CJH.ACH.50.3.005. S2CID 146493747. Archived from the original on May 6, 2016. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
2. ^ IHT’s Nunavut Map Series
3. ^ "Census Profile, 2016 Census Baffin, Region [Census division]". Statistics Canada. Retrieved March 2, 2017.
4. ^ "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada and census divisions, 2021 and 2016 censuses – 100% data". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved May 6, 2025.
5. ^ a b "Census Profile, 2021 Census Iqaluit". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
6. ^ Statistics Canada. "Census Profile, 2021 Census Arctic Bay". Retrieved May 7, 2025.
7. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Cape Dorset". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
8. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Clyde River". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
9. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Grrise Fiord". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
10. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Hall Beach". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
11. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Igloolik". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
12. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Kimmirut". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
13. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Pangnirtung". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
14. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Pond Inlet". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
15. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Qikiqtarjuaq". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
16. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Resolute". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
17. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census Sanikiluaq". Statistics Canada. Retrieved May 7, 2025.
18. ^ "Census Profile, 2021 Census of Population Profile table - Qikiqtaaluk, Unorganized, Unorganized (NO) Nunavut [Census subdivision]". February 1, 2023. Retrieved April 11, 2023.
19. ^ Rigby, Bruce. "101. Qaummaarviit Historic Park". The 1998 Nunavut Handbook: Travelling in Canada's Arctic (PDF). pp. 324–325\. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 29, 2006. Retrieved October 2, 2009.
20. ^ Jamieson, John. "The Dorsets: Depicting Culture Through Soapstone Carving" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on October 30, 2007. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
21. ^ Tanner, Adrian (1999). "Innu Culture: Innu-Inuit 'Warfare'". Indigenous Peoples. Newfoundland and Labrador Heritage. Retrieved October 5, 2009.
22. ^ "Population and dwelling counts: Canada and census divisions". Statistics Canada. February 9, 2022. Retrieved April 3, 2022.

## Further reading

[edit]

* Kavik, Lisi, and Miriam Fleming. Qikiqtamiut Cookbook. [Sanikiluaq, Nunavut]: Municipality of Sanikiluaq, 2002. ISBN 1-896445-22-5

## External links

[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Qikiqtaaluk Region.

* Qikiqtaaluk Region information at Explore Nunavut

Places adjacent to Qikiqtaaluk Region

| Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories | Arctic Ocean | Nares Strait
(Avannaata, Greenland, Danish Realm)

|
|

|  |
Kitikmeot Region / Kivalliq Region |

Qikitaaluk Region

| Baffin Bay
|  |
Hudson Bay
(Unorganized Census Division No. 23 / Town of Churchill, Manitoba) | James Bay
(Kenora District & Cochrane District, Ontario / Jamésie, Eeyou Istchee, & Kativik Equivalent Territories, Quebec) | Hudson Strait
(Nunatsiavut (Census Division No. 11), Newfoundland and Labrador)

* v
* t
* e

Subdivisions of Nunavut

Regions|

* Kitikmeot (Unorganized)
* Kivalliq (Unorganized)
* Qikiqtaaluk (Unorganized)

Electoral districts|

| Federal|

* Nunavut

|

Territorial|

* Aggu
* Aivilik
* Amittuq
* Arviat North-Whale Cove
* Arviat South
* Baker Lake
* Cambridge Bay
* Gjoa Haven
* Hudson Bay
* Iqaluit-Manirajak
* Iqaluit-Niaqunnguu
* Iqaluit-Sinaa
* Iqaluit-Tasiluk
* Kugluktuk
* Netsilik
* Pangnirtung
* Quttiktuq
* Rankin Inlet North-Chesterfield Inlet
* Rankin Inlet South
* South Baffin
* Tununiq
* Uqqummiut

Communities|

* Arctic Bay
* Arviat
* Baker Lake
* Bathurst Inlet
* Cambridge Bay
* Chesterfield Inlet
* Clyde River
* Coral Harbour
* Gjoa Haven
* Grise Fiord
* Igloolik
* Iqaluit Apex
* Kimmirut
* Kinngait
* Kugaaruk
* Kugluktuk
* Naujaat
* Pangnirtung
* Pond Inlet
* Qikiqtarjuaq
* Rankin Inlet
* Resolute
* Sanikiluaq
* Sanirajak
* Taloyoak
* Whale Cove

Weather stations and
Canadian Armed Forces bases|

* Alert
* CFS Alert
* Ennadai
* Eureka
* Isachsen
* Nanisivik Naval Facility

Mine sites|

| Operating|

* Baffinland Iron Mine
* Doris North
* Meadowbank Gold Mine

|

Defunct|

Bent Horn Mine

* Cullaton Lake/Shear Lake Mine
* Jericho Diamond Mine
* Lupin Mine
* Nanisivik Mine
* Polaris mine
* Rankin Inlet Mine

DEW line and NWS sites|

* Bernard Harbour
* Bray Island
* Brevoort Island
* Broughton Island
* Byron Bay
* Cambridge Bay
* Cape Dyer
* Cape Hooper
* Cape Mcloughlin
* Cape Mercy
* Cape Peel West
* Cape Young
* Clifton Point
* Clinton Point
* Croker River
* Dewar Lakes
* Durban Island
* Edinburgh Island
* Ekalugad
* Gjoa Haven
* Gladman Point
* Harding River
* Hat Island
* Kangok Fjord
* Keats Point
* Keith Bay
* Kivitoo
* Lady Franklin Point
* Lailor River
* Loks Land
* Longstaff Bluff
* Mackar Inlet
* Matheson Point
* Nudluardjuk Lake
* Pelly Bay
* Qikiqtaryuaq
* Resolution Island
* Ross Point
* Rowley Island
* Sanirajak
* Scarpa Lake
* Shepherd Bay
* Simpson Lake
* Sturt Point

Former|

* Amadjuak
* Brooman Point Village
* Craig Harbour
* Dundas Harbour
* Iglunga
* Killiniq
* Nanisivik
* Native Point
* Nuwata
* Padlei
* Port Leopold
* Tavani

Hudson's Bay Company
trading posts|

* Amadjuak
* Apex
* Arctic Bay
* Baker Lake
* Bathurst Inlet
* Bay Chimo
* Belcher Islands
* Blacklead Island
* Cambridge Bay
* Cape Dorset
* Charlton Island Depot
* Chesterfield Inlet
* Clyde River
* Coats Island
* Dundas Harbour
* Eskimo Point
* Fort Hearne
* Fort Ross
* Frobisher Bay
* Gjoa Haven
* Igloolik
* Kent Peninsula
* King William Island
* Kugaryuak
* Lake Harbour
* Mansel Island
* Nueltin House
* Padley
* Pangnirtung
* Pangnirtung Fox Farm
* Perry River
* Ponds Inlet
* Port Burwell
* Port Leopold
* Repulse Bay
* Southampton Island
* Tavane
* Tree River
* Wager Inlet

Authority control databases

International|

* VIAF

National|

* United States
* Israel

Geographic|

* MusicBrainz area

Other|

* Yale LUX

70°N 080°W﻿ / ﻿70°N 80°W﻿ / 70; -80﻿ (Qikiqtaaluk Region)
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