Cornwall Island is a small island in the high arctic region of the Canadian territory of

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'' ...

. It is near the geometric centre of the

Queen Elizabeth Islands The Queen Elizabeth Islands (french: Îles de la Reine-Élisabeth; formerly Parry Islands or Parry Archipelago) are the northernmost cluster of islands in Canada's Arctic Archipelago, split between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories in Northe ...

. To the north, it is separated from Amund Ringnes Island by

Hendriksen Strait Hendriksen Strait () is a natural waterway through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It separates Amund Ringnes Island (to the north) from Cornwall Island (to the south). To the east, the sound opens into Norwegian Bay ...

. To the south, it is separated from

Devon Island Devon Island ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᑦ, ) is an island in Canada and the largest uninhabited island (no permanent residents) in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Ar ...

Belcher Channel Belcher Channel is a waterway in Norwegian Bay in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It separates Cornwall Island from Devon Island. Table Island and Ekins Island Ekins Island is an uninhabited island within the Arctic Archipelago in the terr ...

. It is the largest of six islands (the others being

Buckingham Buckingham ( ) is a market town in north Buckinghamshire, England, close to the borders of Northamptonshire and Oxfordshire, which had a population of 12,890 at the 2011 Census. The town lies approximately west of Central Milton Keynes, sou ...

, Ekins, Exmouth,

Graham Island Graham Island () is the largest island in the Haida Gwaii archipelago (previously known as the Queen Charlotte Islands), lying off the mainland coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other pr ...

, and

Table Table may refer to: * Table (furniture), a piece of furniture with a flat surface and one or more legs * Table (landform), a flat area of land * Table (information), a data arrangement with rows and columns * Table (database), how the table data ...

) in the

Norwegian Bay Norwegian Bay (french: Baie Norvégienne) is an Arctic Ocean waterway in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Amund Ringnes Island is to the northwest (separated by the Hendriksen Strait from Cornwall Island), and Axel Heiberg Island is t ...

, west of

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and List of Canadian islands by area, third largest island, and the List of islands by area, tenth largest in the world. ...

. Cornwall Island measures about long and wide, and has an area of . The tallest peaks are McLeod Head at , and Mount Nicolay at , both on the north coast. Coast features include Northeast Point and Gordon Head to the east; Pell Point and Cape O'Brien to the south; and Cape Butler in the southwest. The first known sighting of the island was by Sir

Edward Belcher Admiral Sir Edward Belcher (27 February 1799 – 18 March 1877) was a British naval officer, hydrographer, and explorer. Born in Nova Scotia, he was the great-grandson of Jonathan Belcher, who served as a colonial governor of Massachuse ...

on 30 August 1852 and was named in honour of Prince Edward, Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall.

Image gallery

File:CornwallIslandCloseup.png, Closeup of Cornwall Island

Image gallery

References

Further reading