22-568: Victoria Island ( Inuinnaqtun : Kitlineq ) is a large island in 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
44-625: 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 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
66-661: A part of Inuvialuktun. It is written using the Roman orthography except in Gjoa Haven, where Inuit syllabics are used (as for Natsilingmiutut ). International waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins ) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems , enclosed or semi-enclosed regional seas and estuaries , rivers, lakes, groundwater systems ( aquifers ), and wetlands . "International waters"
88-512: 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 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
110-584: 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
132-408: Is not a defined term in international law. It is an informal term, which sometimes refers to waters beyond the "territorial sea" of any country. In other words, "international waters" is sometimes used as an informal synonym for the more formal term "high seas", which under the doctrine of mare liberum ( Latin for "freedom of the seas"), do not belong to any state's jurisdiction. As such, states have
154-536: 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 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
176-475: Is spoken in the Northwest Territories as well and is recognised as an official language of the territory in addition to Inuvialuktun and Inuktitut. Inuinnaqtun is used primarily in the communities of Cambridge Bay , Kugluktuk and Gjoa Haven in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut. Outside Nunavut, it is spoken in the hamlet of Ulukhaktok , where it is also known as Kangiryuarmiutun , forming
198-518: 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
220-623: 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: Inuinnaqtun language Inuinnaqtun (Inuinnaqtun: ᐃᓄᐃᓐᓇᖅᑐᓐ , IPA: [inuinːɑqtun] ; natively meaning 'like
242-603: 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
#1732780440843264-675: 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,
286-651: The High Seas was used as a foundation for the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), signed in 1982, which recognized exclusive economic zones extending 200 nautical miles (230 mi; 370 km) from the baseline , where coastal states have sovereign rights to the water column and sea floor as well as the natural resources found there. The high seas make up 50% of the surface area of
308-603: 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 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
330-554: 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
352-401: 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
374-501: The planet and cover over two-thirds of the ocean. Ships sailing the high seas are generally under the jurisdiction of the flag state (if there is one); however, when a ship is involved in certain criminal acts, such as piracy , any nation can exercise jurisdiction under the doctrine of universal jurisdiction . International waters can be contrasted with internal waters , territorial waters and exclusive economic zones . UNCLOS also contains, in its part XII, special provisions for
396-735: The protection of the marine environment, which, in certain cases, allow port States to exercise extraterritorial jurisdiction over foreign ships on the high seas if they violate international environmental rules (adopted by the IMO ), such as the MARPOL Convention. Several international treaties have established freedom of navigation on semi-enclosed seas. Other international treaties have opened up rivers, which are not traditionally international waterways. Current unresolved disputes over whether particular waters are "International waters" include: At least ten conventions are included within
418-433: The real human beings/peoples'), is an Inuit language . It is spoken in the central Canadian Arctic . It is related very closely to Inuktitut , and some scholars, such as Richard Condon , believe that Inuinnaqtun is more appropriately classified as a dialect of Inuktitut. The government of Nunavut recognises Inuinnaqtun as an official language in addition to Inuktitut, and together sometimes referred to as Inuktut . It
440-430: The right to fishing, navigation, overflight, laying cables and pipelines, as well as scientific research. The Convention on the High Seas , signed in 1958, which has 63 signatories, defined "high seas" to mean "all parts of the sea that are not included in the territorial sea or in the internal waters of a State" and where "no State may validly purport to subject any part of them to its sovereignty." The Convention on
462-502: 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
SECTION 20
#1732780440843484-772: 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
#842157