Kugluktuk (, ;

Inuktitut syllabics Inuktitut syllabics ( iu, ᖃᓂᐅᔮᖅᐸᐃᑦ, qaniujaaqpait, or , ) is an abugida-type writing system used in Canada by the Inuktitut-speaking Inuit of the territory of Nunavut and the Nunavik and Nunatsiavut regions of Quebec and Labra ...

: ; ), formerly known as Coppermine until 1 January 1996, is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

located at the mouth of the

Coppermine River The Coppermine River is a river in the North Slave and Kitikmeot regions of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut in Canada. It is long. It rises in Lac de Gras, a small lake near Great Slave Lake, and flows generally north to Coronation Gulf, a ...

in the

Kitikmeot Region Kitikmeot Region (; Inuktitut: ''Qitirmiut'' ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts of Victoria Island with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' ...

, Canada, on

Coronation Gulf Coronation Gulf lies between Victoria Island and mainland Nunavut in Canada. To the northwest it connects with Dolphin and Union Strait and thence the Beaufort Sea and Arctic Ocean; to the northeast it connects with Dease Strait and thence Queen M ...

, southwest of

Victoria Island Victoria Island ( ikt, Kitlineq, italic=yes) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the List of islands by area, eighth-largest island in the world, ...

. It is the westernmost community in Nunavut, near the border with the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...

. The traditional language of the area is Inuinnaqtun and is written using the

Latin alphabet The Latin alphabet or Roman alphabet is the collection of letters originally used by the ancient Romans to write the Latin language. Largely unaltered with the exception of extensions (such as diacritics), it used to write English and the o ...

, rather than the syllabics of the Inuktitut writing system. Like

Cambridge Bay Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: ''Iqaluktuuttiaq'' Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ; 2021 population 1,760; population centre 1,403) is a hamlet located on Victoria Island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest settl ...

Bathurst Inlet Bathurst Inlet, officially Kiluhiqtuq, is a deep inlet located along the northern coast of the Canadian mainland, at the east end of Coronation Gulf, into which the Burnside and Western rivers empty. The name, or its native equivalent ''Kingo ...

, and Umingmaktok, syllabics are rarely seen and are used mainly by the Government of Nunavut.

History

In 1982, a division plebiscite was held. While approximately 80% of the population in what is now Nunavut voted in favour of division, Coppermine was one of only two communities to vote against division.

was the other. In June 2004, a fuel line broke in the centre of Kugluktuk, spilling of

diesel fuel Diesel fuel , also called diesel oil, is any liquid fuel specifically designed for use in a diesel engine, a type of internal combustion engine in which fuel ignition takes place without a spark as a result of compression of the inlet air and t ...

Geography

Kugluktuk is located on the shore of the

Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceans. It spans an area of approximately and is known as the coldest of all the oceans. The International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) recognizes it as an ocean, a ...

. The surrounding landscape is dominated by the rocky and often barren

Canadian Shield The Canadian Shield (french: Bouclier canadien ), also called the Laurentian Plateau, is a geologic shield, a large area of exposed Precambrian igneous and high-grade metamorphic rocks. It forms the North American Craton (or Laurentia), the anc ...

. The region has a

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, ge ...

, but barely so, with July having an average of . It has very cold and extremely dry winters, and moderate snowfall which is relatively high for its latitude. Though trees do exist in the region, they are dwarfed and extremely sparse.

Flora

Plant growth in the region during summer months includes small shrubs, grass, moss, lichens, blueberries, blackberries, cranberries, various flowers, and dwarf willow and birch trees.

Climate

Kugluktuk features a

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

: ''Dfc''); like most of mainland

; with wet summers and dry winters. It is in the transitional zone to a cold tundra climate (''ET''), but falls outside of it, since its warmest month of July surpasses the isotherm, averaging . The highest temperature ever recorded in Kugluktuk was on 15 July 1989. The coldest temperature ever recorded was on 2 February 1968.

Demographics

As a census subdivision in the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, Kugluktuk had a population of 1,382 living in 397 of its 438 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,491. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. As a

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the sta ...

in the 2021 census, Kugluktuk had a population of 956 living in 265 of its 296 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,057. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Infrastructure

The community has been served by the

Qiniq Qiniq may refer to: * Qiniq (tribe), a historical Oghuz Turkic tribe *Qiniq (company) Qiniq, from the Inuktitut root word for "to search", is a Canadian company, which uses satellite and wireless communications technology to provide broadband ...

network since 2005. Qiniq is a fixed wireless service to homes and businesses, connecting to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by

SSI Micro SSi Canada (formerly known as SSi Micro Ltd.) is a Canadian wireless broadband internet service provider primarily serving remote areas that lack terrestrial service options. SSi was established in 1990 by Jeffrey Philipp and is headquartered in Y ...

. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.

Education

The two schools in the community are Kugluktuk High School and

Jimmy Hikok Ilihakvik Jimmy may refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television * ''Jimmy'' (2008 film), a 2008 Hindi thriller directed by Raj N. Sippy * ''Jimmy'' (1979 film), a 1979 Indian Malayalam film directed by Melattoor Ravi Varma * ''Jimmy'' (2013 f ...

Gallery

File:Kugluktuk NT.jpg, Kugluktuk NU File:Lifeguard Station at Kugluktuk.jpg, A lifeguard is stationed at the beach on hot days File:Coppermine 1980s.jpg,

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

women preparing to make

bannock Bannock may mean: * Bannock (food), a kind of bread, cooked on a stone or griddle * Bannock (Indigenous American), various types of bread, usually prepared by pan-frying * Bannock people, a Native American people of what is now southeastern Oregon ...

at Kugluktuk File:Wildflowers, Kugluktuk, Nunavut (2008).jpg, Wildflowers in Kugluktuk File:Kugluktuk High School.jpg, Grades 6 to 12 with a student population of about 150 File:Kugluktuk RC Church.jpg, The Roman Catholic Church at Kugluktuk

Notes

References

Office of the Languages Commissioner of Nunavut – PDF Dialect Map