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Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost
territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...
of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''
Nunavut Act The history of Nunavut covers the period from the arrival of the Paleo-Eskimo thousands of years ago to present day. Prior to the colonization of the continent by Europeans, the lands encompassing present-day Nunavut were inhabited by several ...
'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'', which provided this territory to the
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 ...
for independent government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was admitted in 1949. Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Its vast territory makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision in the world, as well as North America's second-largest (after
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
). The capital
Iqaluit Iqaluit ( ; , ; ) is the capital of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the Frobisher Bay, large bay on the c ...
(formerly Frobisher Bay), on Baffin Island in the east, was chosen by a capital plebiscite in 1995. Other major communities include the regional centres of
Rankin Inlet Rankin Inlet ( iu, Kangiqliniq; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᖏᕿᓂᖅ or ''Kangirliniq'', ᑲᖏᖅᖠᓂᖅ, or ''Kangir&iniq'' meaning ''deep bay/inlet'') is an Inuit hamlet on Kudlulik Peninsula in Nunavut, Canada. It is the largest hamlet and ...
and Cambridge Bay. Nunavut also includes Ellesmere Island to the far north, as well as the eastern and southern portions 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, ...
in the west, and all islands in Hudson, James and Ungava bays, including
Akimiski Island Akimiski Island is the largest island in James Bay (a southeasterly extension of Hudson Bay), Canada, which is part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the territory of Nunavut. It has an area of , making it the 163rd largest island in the world, and ...
far to the southeast of the rest of the territory. It is Canada's only geo-political region that is not connected to the rest of North America by highway. Nunavut is the least populous of Canada's provinces and territories. One of the world's most remote, sparsely settled regions, Nunavut has a population of 39,589 (2021 figure, up from 35,944 in 2016), consisting mostly of
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 ...
. The population occupies a land area of just over , or slightly smaller than Mexico (excluding water surface area). Nunavut is also home to the world's northernmost permanently inhabited place, Alert.
Eureka Eureka (often abbreviated as E!, or Σ!) is an intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying th ...
, a weather station on Ellesmere Island, has the lowest average annual temperature of any Canadian weather station.


History


Early history

The region, which is now mainland Nunavut, was first populated approximately 4,500 years ago by the
Pre-Dorset The Pre-Dorset is a loosely defined term for a Paleo-Eskimo culture or group of cultures that existed in the Eastern Canadian Arctic from c. 3200 to 850 cal BC, and preceded the Dorset culture. Due to its vast geographical expanse and to history ...
, a diverse
Paleo-Eskimo The Paleo-Eskimo (also pre-Thule or pre-Inuit) were the peoples who inhabited the Arctic region from Chukotka (e.g., Chertov Ovrag) in present-day Russia across North America to Greenland prior to the arrival of the modern Inuit (Eskimo) and rel ...
culture that migrated eastward from the Bering Strait region. The Pre-Dorset culture was succeeded by the
Dorset culture The Dorset was a Paleo-Eskimo culture, lasting from to between and , that followed the Pre-Dorset and preceded the Thule people (proto-Inuit) in the North American Arctic. The culture and people are named after Cape Dorset (now Kinngait) in ...
about 2,800 years ago. Anthropologists and historians believe that the Dorset culture developed from the Pre-Dorset somehow.
Helluland Helluland () is the name given to one of the three lands, the others being Vinland and Markland, seen by Bjarni Herjólfsson, encountered by Leif Erikson and further explored by Thorfinn Karlsefni Thórdarson around AD 1000 on the North Atlantic ...
, which Norse explorers described visiting in their
Sagas of Icelanders The sagas of Icelanders ( is, Íslendingasögur, ), also known as family sagas, are one genre of Icelandic sagas. They are prose narratives mostly based on historical events that mostly took place in Iceland in the ninth, tenth, and early el ...
, has been associated with Nunavut's Baffin Island. Claims of contact between the Dorset and Norse are controversial. The
Thule people The Thule (, , ) or proto-Inuit were the ancestors of all modern Inuit. They developed in coastal Alaska by the year 1000 and expanded eastward across northern Canada, reaching Greenland by the 13th century. In the process, they replaced people o ...
, ancestors of the modern
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 ...
, began migrating from Alaska in the 11th century into the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. By 1300, the geographic extent of Thule settlement included most of modern Nunavut. The migration of the Thule people coincides with the decline of the Dorset, who died out between 800 and 1500.


European exploration

The earliest written historical account of the area is dated to 1576, an account by English explorer Martin Frobisher. While leading an expedition to find the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
, Frobisher thought he had discovered gold ore around the body of water now known as
Frobisher Bay Frobisher Bay is an inlet of the Davis Strait in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in the southeastern corner of Baffin Island. Its length is about and its width varies from about at its outlet into the Labrador Sea to ...
on the coast of Baffin Island. The ore turned out to be worthless, but Frobisher made the first recorded European contact with the Inuit. Other explorers in search of the elusive Northwest Passage followed in the 17th century, including
Henry Hudson Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the northeastern United States. In 1607 and 16 ...
,
William Baffin William Baffin ( – 23 January 1622) was an English navigator, explorer and cartographer. He is primarily known for his attempt to find a Northwest Passage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, during the course of which he was the first Euro ...
and
Robert Bylot Robert Bylot () was an English explorer who made four voyages to the Arctic. He was uneducated and from a working-class background, but was able to rise to rank of master in the English Royal Navy. Voyages Robert Bylot First voyage, 1610 ...
.


20th and 21st centuries

Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805), styled Viscount Brome between 1753 and 1762 and known as the Earl Cornwallis between 1762 and 1792, was a British Army general and official. In the United S ...
and Ellesmere Islands featured in the history of the Cold War in the 1950s. Concerned about the area's strategic geopolitical position, the federal government, as part of the
High Arctic relocation The High Arctic relocation (french: La délocalisation du Haut-Arctique, iu, ᖁᑦᑎᒃᑐᒥᐅᑦᑕ ᓅᑕᐅᓂᖏᑦ, Quttiktumut nuutauningit) took place during the Cold War in the 1950s, when 92 Inuit were moved by the Government of Ca ...
, relocated Inuit from Nunavik (northern
Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...
) to Resolute and
Grise Fiord Grise Fiord (; iu, ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ, translit=Aujuittuq, lit=place that never thaws, italics=no) is an Inuit hamlet on the southern tip of Ellesmere Island, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of three populated places on ...
. In the unfamiliar and hostile conditions, they faced starvation but were forced to stay. Forty years later, the
Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples (RCAP) was a Canadian royal commission established in 1991 with the aim of investigating the relationship between Indigenous peoples in Canada, the Government of Canada, and Canadian society as a whole. ...
issued a report titled ''The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953–55 Relocation''. The government paid compensation to those affected and their descendants. On August 18, 2010, in Inukjuak, the Honourable
John Duncan John Duncan may refer to: Arts and entertainment * John Duncan (painter) (1866–1945), Scottish painter * John Duncan (artist) (born 1953), American artist and musician * Big John Duncan (born 1958), Scottish punk musician * John Duncan (harpist) ...
, PC, MP, previous
Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of government w ...
and
Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians The Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians was a title and role in the Canadian Cabinet that provided a liaison (or, interlocutor) for the federal Canadian government, and its various departments, to Métis and non-status Abor ...
formally apologized on behalf of the
Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
for the relocation of Inuit to the High Arctic. Discussions on dividing the Northwest Territories along ethnic lines began in the 1950s, and legislation to achieve this was introduced in 1963. After its failure, a federal commission recommended against such a measure. During the 1970s, activism increased among the Inuit,
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
, and Innu peoples for
recognition Recognition may refer to: *Award, something given in recognition of an achievement Machine learning *Pattern recognition, a branch of machine learning which encompasses the meanings below Biometric * Recognition of human individuals, or biomet ...
of their
forced assimilation Forced assimilation is an involuntary process of cultural assimilation of religious or ethnic minority groups during which they are forced to adopt language, identity, norms, mores, customs, traditions, values, mentality, perceptions, way of li ...
. In 1976, as part of the land claims negotiations between the
Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami, (Inuktitut syllabics: , meaning "Inuit are united in Canada") previously known as the Inuit Tapirisat of Canada (Eskimo Brotherhood of Canada), is a nonprofit organization in Canada that represents over 65,000 Inuit acro ...
(then called the "Inuit Tapirisat of Canada") and the federal government, the parties discussed division of the Northwest Territories to provide a separate territory for the Inuit. On April 14, 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories. A majority of the residents voted in favour and the federal government gave a conditional agreement seven months later. The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by nearly 85% of the voters in Nunavut in a referendum. On July 9, 1993, the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' and the ''Nunavut Act'' were passed by the
Canadian Parliament The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, the ...
. The transition to establish Nunavut Territory was completed on April 1, 1999. The creation of Nunavut has been followed by considerable population growth in the capital Iqaluit, from 5,200 in 2001 to 6,600 in 2011, a 27% increase. In 2020, Nunavut imposed strict travel regulations in order to prevent an outbreak of the
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019. The disease quickly ...
pandemic. The government barred entry to almost all non-residents. As of October 2020, it was the only place in North America to have had no cases of COVID-19. On November 6, 2020, Nunavut confirmed its first case in
Sanikiluaq Sanikiluaq ( iu, ᓴᓂᑭᓗᐊᖅ ) is a municipality and Inuit community located on the north coast of Flaherty Island in Hudson Bay, on the Belcher Islands. Despite being geographically much closer to the shores of Ontario and Quebec, the c ...
.


Geography

Nunavut covers of land and of water in Northern Canada. The territory includes part of the mainland, most of the Arctic Archipelago, and all of the islands in Hudson Bay,
James Bay James Bay (french: Baie James; cr, ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, Wînipekw, dirty water) is a large body of water located on the southern end of Hudson Bay in Canada. Both bodies of water extend from the Arctic Ocean, of which James Bay is the southernmost pa ...
, and
Ungava Bay Ungava Bay (french: baie d'Ungava, ; iu, ᐅᖓᕙ ᑲᖏᖅᓗᒃ/) is a bay in northeastern Canada separating Nunavik (far northern Quebec) from Baffin Island. Although not geographically apparent, it is considered to be a marginal sea of the ...
, including the
Belcher Islands The Belcher Islands ( iu, script=latn, ᓴᓪᓚᔪᒐᐃᑦ, Sanikiluaq) are an archipelago in the southeast part of Hudson Bay near the centre of the Nastapoka arc. The Belcher Islands are spread out over almost . Administratively, they belo ...
, all of which were part of the Northwest Territories from which Nunavut was separated. This makes it the fifth-largest subnational entity (or
administrative division Administrative division, administrative unit,Article 3(1). country subdivision, administrative region, subnational entity, constituent state, as well as many similar terms, are generic names for geographical areas into which a particular, ind ...
) in the world. If Nunavut were a country, it would rank 15th in area. Nunavut has long land borders with the Northwest Territories on the mainland and a few Arctic islands, and with
Manitoba , image_map = Manitoba in Canada 2.svg , map_alt = Map showing Manitoba's location in the centre of Southern Canada , Label_map = yes , coordinates = , capital = Winn ...
to the south of the Nunavut mainland; it also meets
Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a province in western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dak ...
to the southwest at a quadripoint, and has a short land border with
Newfoundland and Labrador Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic Canada, Atlantic region. The province comprises t ...
on
Killiniq Island Killiniq Island (English: ''ice floes'') is a remote island in southeastern Nunavut and northern Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. Located at the extreme northern tip of Labrador between Ungava Bay and the Labrador Sea, it is notable in that it ...
. The boundary with the Northwest Territories roughly approximates the
tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...
in Canada. Nunavut shares maritime borders with the provinces of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, and with constituent country Greenland, with which it also shares a land border on Hans Island. Nunavut's highest point is
Barbeau Peak __NOTOC__ Barbeau Peak is a mountain in Qikiqtaaluk, Nunavut, Canada. Located on Ellesmere Island within Quttinirpaaq National Park, it is the highest mountain in Nunavut and the Canadian Arctic. The mountain was named in 1969 after Marius Bar ...
() on Ellesmere Island. The population density is 0.019 persons/km2 (0.05 persons/sq mi), one of the lowest in the world. By comparison, Greenland has approximately the same area and nearly twice the population.


Climate

Nunavut experiences a polar climate in most regions, owing to its high latitude and lower continental summertime influence than areas to the west. In more southerly continental areas, very cold subarctic climates can be found, due to July being slightly milder than the required .


Demography

As of the
2016 Canada Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census. ...
, the population of Nunavut was 35,944, a 12.7% increase from 2011. In 2006, 24,640 people identified as Inuit (83.6% of the total population), 100 as
First Nations First Nations or first peoples may refer to: * Indigenous peoples, for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area. Indigenous groups *First Nations is commonly used to describe some Indigenous groups including: **First Natio ...
(0.3%), 130 as Métis (0.4%) and 4,410 as non-aboriginal (15.0%). The population growth rate of Nunavut has been well above the Canadian average for several decades, mostly due to birth rates significantly higher than the Canadian average—a trend that continues. Between 2011 and 2016, Nunavut had the highest population growth rate of any Canadian province or territory, at a rate of 12.7%. The second-highest was Alberta, with a growth rate of 11.6%. Nunavut has the highest smoking rate in all of Canada, with more than half of its adult population smoking cigarettes. Both men and women smoke regularly. Some 90% of pregnant women are smokers, although studies have shown it has detrimental effects.


Language

Official languages are Inuit (Inuktitut and
Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous 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 ...
) sometimes called Inuktut,
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
, and French. and In his 2000 commissioned report ('' Language of Instruction Research Paper'') to the Nunavut Department of Education, Ian Martin of
York University York University (french: Université York), also known as YorkU or simply YU, is a public university, public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's fourth-largest university, and it has approximately 55,700 students, 7,0 ...
said that a "long-term threat to
Inuit languages The Inuit languages are a closely related group of indigenous American languages traditionally spoken across the North American Arctic and adjacent subarctic, reaching farthest south in Labrador. The related Yupik languages (spoken in weste ...
from English is found everywhere, and current school language policies and practices on language are contributing to that threat" if Nunavut schools follow the Northwest Territories model. He provided a 20-year language plan to create a "fully functional bilingual society, in Inuktitut and English" by 2020. The plan provided different models, including: * "Qulliq Model", for most Nunavut communities, with Inuktitut to be the main language of instruction. * "Inuinnaqtun Immersion Model", for language reclamation and immersion to revitalize Inuinnaqtun as a living language. * "Mixed Population Model", mainly for Iqaluit (possibly for Rankin Inlet), where the population is 40% , or non-Inuit, and may have different requirements. Of the 34,960 responses to the census question concerning "mother tongue" in the 2016 census, the most commonly reported languages in Nunavut were: At the time of the census, only English and French were counted as official languages. Figures shown are for single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses. In the 2016 census it was reported that 2,045 people (5.8%) living in Nunavut had no knowledge of either official language of Canada (English or French). The 2016 census also reported that of the 30,135 Inuit in Nunavut, 90.7% could speak either Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun.


Religion

In 2021 census, Christianity constitutes 73.5% of Nunavut's population down from 86% in the 2011 Census. The percentage of population which is non-religious has grown from 13% in 2011 to 24.9% in 2021 Census. About 1.6% of the population reported another religious affiliation including Aboriginal spirituality, Hinduism, Islam, Buddhism etc.


Economy

The economy of Nunavut is driven by the Inuit and Territorial Government, mining, oil, gas, and mineral exploration, arts, crafts, hunting, fishing, whaling, tourism, transportation, housing development, military, research, and education. Currently, one college operates in Nunavut, the
Nunavut Arctic College Nunavut Arctic College ( iu, ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥᓯᓚᑦᑐᖅᓴᕐᕕᒃ, french: Collège de l’Arctique du Nunavut, Inuinnaqtun: ''Nunavunmi Inirnirit Iliharviat'') is a public community college in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. The colle ...
, as well as several Arctic research stations located within the territory. The new Canadian High Arctic Research Station CHARS is planning for Cambridge Bay and high north Alert Bay Station. Iqaluit hosts the annual Nunavut Mining Symposium every April, a tradeshow that showcases the many economic activities ongoing in Nunavut. Baffinland is the territory’s largest private sector employer with more than 2,600 workers and accounted for 23 per cent of Nunavut’s economic activity in 2019.


Mining

There are currently three major mines in operation in Nunavut. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd – Meadowbank Division.
Meadowbank Gold Mine The Meadowbank Gold Mine is an open pit gold mine operated by Agnico-Eagle Mines in the Kivalliq district of Nunavut, Canada approximately 300 km west of Hudson Bay. Meadowbank was Agnico Eagle’s first Low Arctic mine. Discovery Discoveri ...
is an open pit
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
mine Mine, mines, miners or mining may refer to: Extraction or digging * Miner, a person engaged in mining or digging *Mining, extraction of mineral resources from the ground through a mine Grammar *Mine, a first-person English possessive pronoun ...
with an estimated mine life 2010–2020 and employs 680 people. The second mine in production is the Mary River Iron Ore mine operated by Baffinland Iron Mines. It is located close to Pond Inlet on North Baffin Island. They produce a high grade direct ship iron ore. The most recent mine to open is Doris North or the Hope Bay Mine operated near
Hope Bay Aerodrome Hope Bay Aerodrome is an aerodrome located near Hope Bay, Nunavut, Hope Bay, Nunavut, Canada. The runway serves the gold exploration camps in the area. Airlines and destinations See also *Hope Bay greenstone belt References External lin ...
by TMAC Resource Ltd. This new high grade gold mine is the first in a series of potential mines in gold occurrences all along the Hope Bay greenstone belt.


Mining projects


Historic mines

*
Lupin Mine Lupin Mine was a gold mine in Nunavut, Canada. It opened in 1982 and was originally owned and operated by Echo Bay Mines Limited, who in 2003 became a fully owned subsidiary of Kinross Gold Corporation. The mine ceased production briefly in Aug ...
1982–2005, gold, current owner Elgin Mining Ltd located near the Northwest Territories boundary near
Contwoyto Lake Contwoyto Lake is a lake in the Kitikmeot Region of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut, located near the border with the Northwest Territories. With a total area of , it is the List of lakes of Nunavut, territor ...
) *
Polaris Mine Polaris zinc mine was a former underground mining (hard rock), underground mine on Little Cornwallis Island in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian territory of Nunavut (Northwest Territories prior to Nunavut's official separation). ...
1982–2002, lead and
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
(located on
Little Cornwallis Island Little Cornwallis Island is one of the Canadian Arctic islands in Nunavut, Canada. It is located at 75°30'N 96°30'W, between Cornwallis Island and Bathurst Island in McDougall Sound, and measures . It is uninhabited. Little Cornwallis Island w ...
, not far from Resolute) *
Nanisivik Mine Nanisivik Mine was a zinc-lead mine in the company town of Nanisivik, Nunavut, north of the Arctic Circle on Baffin Island. It was Canada's first mine in the Arctic. The mine first opened on 15 October 1976 and permanently closed in September ...
1976–2002, lead and zinc, prior owner
Breakwater Resources Breakwater Resources was a mining company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. On August 26, 2011 the company was acquired by Nyrstar. Mines Operations Breakwater operated six mines: * Myra Falls mine in British Columbia * Langlois mine in Quebec ...
Ltd (near Arctic Bay) at
Nanisivik Nanisivik ( iu, ᓇᓂᓯᕕᒃ, lit=the place where people find things; ) is a now-abandoned company town which was built in 1975 to support the lead-zinc mining and mineral processing operations for the Nanisivik Mine, in production between 1 ...
* Rankin Nickel Mine 1957–1962, nickel, copper and platinum group metals *
Jericho Diamond Mine The Jericho Diamond Mine is a dormant diamond Mining, mine located in Canada's Nunavut territory. Jericho is Nunavut’s first and only diamond mine. It is located northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories and is accessible by air all year ...
2006–2008, diamond (located 400 km, 250 mi, northeast of
Yellowknife Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
) 2012 produced diamonds from existing stockpile. No new mining; closed. * Doris North Gold Mine Newmont Mining approx underground drifting/mining, none milled or processed. Newmont closed the mine and sold it to TMAC Resources in 2013. TMAC has now reached commercial production in 2017.


Energy

Nunavut's people rely primarily on
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 ...
to run generators and heat homes, with fossil fuel shipments from southern Canada by plane or boat because there are few to no roads or rail links to the region. There is a government effort to use more renewable energy sources, which is generally supported by the community. This support comes from Nunavut feeling the
effects of global warming The effects of climate change impact the physical environment, ecosystems and human societies. The environmental effects of climate change are broad and far-reaching. They affect the water cycle, oceans, sea and land ice (glaciers), sea lev ...
. Former Nunavut Premier
Eva Aariak Eva Qamaniq Aariak ( iu, ᐄᕙ ᐋᕆᐊᒃ, ; born January 10, 1955) is a Canadian Inuk politician, who was elected in the 2008 territorial election to represent the electoral district of Iqaluit East in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut ...
said in 2011, "
Climate change In common usage, climate change describes global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes to ...
is very much upon us. It is affecting our hunters, the animals, the thinning of the ice is a big concern, as well as erosion from permafrost melting." The region is
warming Warming may refer to: People *Eugenius Warming, (1841–1924), Danish botanist * Thomas Warming, (b. 1969), Danish illustrator, painter and author See also *Global warming *Warming up *Warming Land Warming Land is a peninsula in far northern G ...
about twice as fast as the global average, according to the UN's Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.


Transportation

*
Northern Transportation Company Limited Marine Transportation Services (MTS) formerly Northern Transportation Company Limited (NTCL) is a marine transportation company operating primarily in the Mackenzie River watershed of the Northwest Territories and northern Alberta, and the Arct ...
, owned by Norterra, a
holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
that was, until April 1, 2014, jointly owned by the
Inuvialuit The Inuvialuit (sing. Inuvialuk; ''the real people'') or Western Canadian Inuit are Inuit who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They, like all other Inuit, are descendants of the Thule who migrated eastward from Alaska. Their homelan ...
of the Northwest Territories and the Inuit of Nunavut.The NorTerra Group of Companies
, corporate website
* There are no sidewalks in Nunavut.


Tourism

In the second half of 2018 travellers visited Nunavut 134,000 times and spent $436 million. Two-thirds of those visits were by Nunavummiut (residents of Nunavut) travelling within the territory. The remaining came from outside other provinces or territories in Canada, or from abroad and spent $219 million. Travellers from Ontario make up the largest portion of visitors from outside the territory. The majority of visitors from outside of Nunavut are business travellers; in the second half of 2018 only 14% of visitors were in the territory for leisure. Tourism recreation in Nunavut include activities like dog sledding, snowmobiling, cultural festivals, hiking, arctic wildlife safaris and sea kayaking.


Culture


Media

The
Inuit Broadcasting Corporation The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation (IBC) ( iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᑕᑯᓐᓇᕋᑦᓴᓕᕆᔨᑦ) is a television production company based in Nunavut with programming targeted at the Inuit population of Nunavut. Almost all of its programs are broad ...
is based in Nunavut. The
Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (french: Société Radio-Canada), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is a Canadian public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a federal Crown corporation that receives funding from the government. ...
(CBC) serves Nunavut through a radio and television production centre in Iqaluit, and a bureau in Rankin Inlet. Iqaluit is served by private commercial radio stations
CKIQ-FM CKIQ-FM is a Classic Rock formatted broadcast radio station. The station is licensed to Iqaluit, Nunavut and serves Iqaluit and Apex in the Nunavut in Canada. CKIQ-FM is owned and operated by Northern Lights Entertainment, Inc. The station als ...
and
CKGC-FM CKGC-FM is an 80s Hits formatted broadcast radio station. The station is licensed to Iqaluit, Nunavut and serves Iqaluit and Apex in Nunavut. CKGC-FM is owned and operated by Northern Lights Entertainment, Inc. References External links 103 ...
, both owned by Northern Lights Entertainment Inc. (CKIQ-FM had a rebroadcaster in Rankin Inlet that was discontinued in 2009.)


Periodicals

Nunavut is served by two regional weekly newspapers, ''
Nunatsiaq News ''Nunatsiaq News'' ( iu, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ, italic=no) is a Canadian weekly newspaper in operation since 1973 based in Iqaluit, serving Nunavut and Nunavik, in Kativik, Nord-du-Québec. The paper is published every Fri ...
'' published by Nortext, and '' Nunavut News/North'', published by
Northern News Services NNSL Media (Northern News Services LTD) is a news and media company based in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is one of the few remaining independent newspaper companies in Canada, producing all-original content with little to no reliance ...
, who also publish the multi-territory regional ''Kivalliq News''.


Film

The film production company
Isuma Isuma (Inuktitut syllabics, ᐃᓱᒪ; Inuktituk for 'to think') is an artist collective and Canada's first Inuit-owned (75%) production company, co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk, Paul Apak Angilirq and Norman Cohn in Igloolik, Nunavut in 1990. Kn ...
is based in Igloolik. Co-founded by
Zacharias Kunuk Zacharias Kunuk ( iu, ᓴᖅᑲᓕᐊᓯ ᑯᓄᒃ, born November 27, 1957) is a Canadian Inuk producer and director most notable for his film '' Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner'', the first Canadian dramatic feature film produced entirely in Inu ...
and
Norman Cohn Norman Rufus Colin Cohn FBA (12 January 1915 – 31 July 2007) was a British academic, historian and writer who spent 14 years as a professorial fellow and as Astor-Wolfson Professor at the University of Sussex. Life Cohn was born in London, to ...
in 1990, the company produced the 1999 feature '' Atanarjuat: The Fast Runner'', winner of the
Caméra d'Or The Caméra d'Or ("''Golden Camera''") is an award of the Cannes Film Festival for the best first feature film presented in one of the Cannes' selections (Official Selection, Directors' Fortnight The Directors' Fortnight (french: Quinzaine des ...
for Best First Feature Film at the 2001
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...
. It was the first feature film written, directed, and acted entirely in Inuktitut. In November 2006, the
National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...
(NFB) and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation announced the start of the Nunavut Animation Lab, offering animation training to Nunavut artists at workshops in Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung. Films from the Nunavut Animation Lab include
Alethea Arnaquq-Baril Alethea Arnaquq-Baril (born May 9, 1978) is an Inuk filmmaker, known for her work on Inuit life and culture. She is the owner of Unikkaat Studios, a production company in Iqaluit, which produces Inuktitut films. She was awarded the Canadian ...
's 2010 digital animation short ''Lumaajuuq'', winner of the Best Aboriginal Award at the
Golden Sheaf Awards Yorkton Film Festival (YFF) is an annual film festival held in late May in Yorkton, Saskatchewan, Canada. In 1947, the Yorkton Film Council (YFC) was founded and in 1950 the first international documentary film festival officially opened in we ...
and named Best Canadian Short Drama at the
imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival The imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival is the world's largest Indigenous film and media arts festival, held annually in Toronto in the month of October. The festival focuses on the film, video, radio, and new media work of Indigenous, Abori ...
. In November 2011, the Government of Nunavut and the NFB jointly announced the launch of a DVD and online collection entitled ''
Unikkausivut ''Unikkausivut: Sharing Our Stories'' is a 2011, two-volume DVD boxset, website and educational resource from the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), bringing together films by and about the Inuit of Canada. The collection traces the development ...
'' (Inuktitut: ''Sharing Our Stories''), which will make over 100 NFB films by and about Inuit available in Inuktitut,
Inuinnaqtun Inuinnaqtun (; natively meaning ''like the real human beings/peoples''), is an indigenous 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 ...
and other Inuit languages, as well as English and French. The Government of Nunavut is distributing ''Unikkausivut'' to every school in the territory.


Music

The
music of Nunavut Nunavut is a territory of Canada, inhabited predominantly by the Inuit and to a much smaller degree other members of the First Nations in Canada, First Nations. Inuit music, Inuit folk music has long been based primarily off percussion, used in ...
includes
Inuit throat singing Inuit throat singing, or ''katajjaq'' (Inuktitut syllabics: ᑲᑕᔾᔭᖅ), is a distinct type of throat singing uniquely found among the Inuit. It is a form of musical performance, traditionally consisting of two women who sing duets in a cl ...
and drum-led dancing, along with
country music Country (also called country and western) is a genre of popular music that originated in the Southern and Southwestern United States in the early 1920s. It primarily derives from blues, church music such as Southern gospel and spirituals, ...
, bluegrass,
fiddling A fiddle is a bowed string musical instrument, most often a violin. It is a colloquial term for the violin, used by players in all genres, including classical music. Although in many cases violins and fiddles are essentially synonymous, ...
,
square dancing A square dance is a dance for four couples, or eight dancers in total, arranged in a square, with one couple on each side, facing the middle of the square. Square dances contain elements from numerous traditional dances and were first documente ...
and the
button accordion A button accordion is a type of accordion on which the melody-side keyboard consists of a series of buttons. This differs from the piano accordion, which has piano-style keys. Erich von Hornbostel and Curt Sachs categorize it as a free reed ae ...
from
Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
.


Performing arts

Artcirq Artcirq is an Inuit circus performance collective based in Igloolik, Nunavut, Canada. It was co-founded in 1998 by Guillaume Saladin and several circus artists from Montreal and youth from Igloolik, with the financial support of Igloolik Isuma Pr ...
is a collective of Inuit circus performers based in Igloolik. The group has performed around the world, including at the
2010 Olympic Winter Games )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gretz ...
in Vancouver, British Columbia.


Sport

Nunavut competes at the
Arctic Winter Games The Arctic Winter Games is a biennial multi-sport and indigenous cultural event involving circumpolar peoples residing in communities or countries bordering the Arctic Ocean. Background The Arctic Winter Games were founded in 1969 under the lea ...
. Iqaluit co-hosted the 2002 edition in partnership with Nuuk, Greenland. Hockey Nunavut was founded in 1999 and competes in the
Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Championship The Maritime-Hockey North Junior C Championship are the Junior "C" ice hockey championships for the Maritime Junior "C" leagues and Hockey North's Team Nunavut of the Canadian Territory of Nunavut. History The championship was officially adopte ...
.


Government and politics

Nunavut has a Commissioner appointed by the federal
Minister of Indigenous and Northern Affairs Minister may refer to: * Minister (Christianity), a Christian cleric ** Minister (Catholic Church) * Minister (government), a member of government who heads a ministry (government department) ** Minister without portfolio, a member of governme ...
. As in the other territories, the commissioner's role is symbolic and is analogous to that of a
Lieutenant-Governor A lieutenant governor, lieutenant-governor, or vice governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. Often a lieutenant governor is the deputy, or lieutenant, to or ranked under a governor — a " second-in-com ...
. While the Commissioner is not formally a representative of the
Canadian monarch The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...
, a role roughly analogous to representing
The Crown The Crown is the state in all its aspects within the jurisprudence of the Commonwealth realms and their subdivisions (such as the Crown Dependencies, overseas territories, provinces, or states). Legally ill-defined, the term has different ...
has accrued to the position. Nunavut elects a single member of the House of Commons of Canada. This makes Nunavut the second largest electoral district in the world by area after
Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...
. The current MP is
Lori Idlout Lori Idlout ( iu, ᓘᕆ ᐃᓪᓚᐅᖅ, italic=no) (born March 28, 1974) is a Canadian politician who has served as member of parliament for the riding of Nunavut in the House of Commons of Canada since 2021. She is a member of the New Democra ...
of the New Democratic Party. The members of the
unicameral Unicameralism (from ''uni''- "one" + Latin ''camera'' "chamber") is a type of legislature, which consists of one house or assembly, that legislates and votes as one. Unicameral legislatures exist when there is no widely perceived need for multi ...
Legislative Assembly of Nunavut The Legislative Assembly of Nunavut is the legislative assembly for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The seat of the Assembly is the Legislative Building of Nunavut in Iqaluit. Prior to the creation of Nunavut as a Canadian territory on Apr ...
are elected individually; there are no parties and the legislature is consensus-based. The head of government, the
premier of Nunavut The premier of Nunavut ( iu, ᓯᕗᓕᖅᑎ ᓄᓇᕗᒻᒥ; Inuinnaqtun: ''Hivuliqti Nunavunmi''; french: premier ministre du Nunavut) is the first minister for the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The premier is the territory's head of governme ...
, is elected by, and from the members of the legislative assembly. On June 14, 2018,
Joe Savikataaq Joe Savikataaq (born ) is a Canadian politician who served as the fifth premier of Nunavut from 2018 to 2021. He was elected premier on June 14, 2018 by the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, after his predecessor Paul Quassa lost a no-confiden ...
was elected as the Premier of Nunavut, after his predecessor Paul Quassa lost a non-confidence motion. Former Premier
Paul Okalik Paul Okalik ( iu, ᐹᓪ ᐅᑲᓕᖅ, ; born May 26, 1964) is a Canadian politician. He is the first Inuk to have been called to the Nunavut Bar. He was also the first premier of Nunavut. On November 4, 2010, he was elected Speaker of the Leg ...
set up an advisory council of eleven elders, whose function it is to help incorporate ''"
Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit ( /inuit qaujimajatuqaŋit/, Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᔭᑐᖃᖏᑦ; sometimes Inuit Qaujimanituqangit - ᐃᓄᐃᑦ ᖃᐅᔨᒪᓂᑐᖃᖏᑦ) is an Inuktitut phrase that is often translated as ...
"'' (Inuit culture and traditional knowledge, often referred to in English as "IQ") into the territory's political and governmental decisions. Due to the territory's small population, and the fact that there are only a few hundred voters in each electoral district, the possibility of two election candidates finishing in an exact tie is significantly higher than in any Canadian province. This has actually happened twice in the five elections to date, with exact ties in
Akulliq Akulliq () was a territorial electoral district ( riding) for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada. The riding consisted of the communities of Kugaaruk and Repulse Bay. Kugaaruk is now a part of the Netsilik riding and Repulse Bay (which ...
in the
2008 Nunavut general election The 2008 Nunavut General Election was held on October 27, 2008, to return members to the 3rd Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. The election was contested across 15 of Nunavut's 19 electoral districts under the first past the post system of voting. ...
and in Rankin Inlet South in the
2013 Nunavut general election The 2013 Nunavut general election was held October 28, 2013, to elect 22 members to the 4th Legislative Assembly of Nunavut. In November 2012 the assembly passed the Nunavut Elections Act 2012, stating that the writs for election drop September 23 ...
. In such an event, Nunavut's practice is to schedule a follow-up
by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...
rather than choosing the winning candidate by an arbitrary method. The territory has also had numerous instances where MLAs were directly
acclaimed An acclamation is a form of election that does not use a ballot. It derives from the ancient Roman word ''acclamatio'', a kind of ritual greeting and expression of approval towards imperial officials in certain social contexts. Voting Voice vot ...
to office as the only person to register their candidacy by the deadline, as well as one instance where a follow-up by-election had to be held due to no candidates registering for the regular election in their district at all. Owing to Nunavut's vast size, the stated goal of the territorial government has been to decentralize governance beyond the region's capital. Three
regions In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics (physical geography), human impact characteristics (human geography), and the interaction of humanity and t ...
Kitikmeot,
Kivalliq The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional ...
and Qikiqtaaluk/Baffin—are the basis for more localized administration, although they lack autonomous governments of their own. The territory has an annual budget of C$700 million, provided almost entirely by the federal government. Former Prime Minister
Paul Martin Paul Edgar Philippe Martin (born August 28, 1938), also known as Paul Martin Jr., is a Canadian lawyer and politician who served as the 21st prime minister of Canada and the leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 2003 to 2006. The son o ...
designated support for Northern Canada as one of his priorities in 2004, with an extra $500 million to be divided among the three territories. In 2001, the government of New Brunswick collaborated with the federal government and the technology firm SSI Micro to launch Qiniq, a unique network that uses
satellite A satellite or artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space. Except for passive satellites, most satellites have an electricity generation system for equipment on board, such as solar panels or radioi ...
delivery to provide broadband Internet access to 24 communities in Nunavut. As a result, the territory was named one of the world's "Smart 25 Communities" in 2006 by the Intelligent Community Forum, a worldwide organization that honours innovation in broadband technologies. The
Nunavut Public Library Services Nunavut Public Library Services (NPLS) is the public library system serving the citizens of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. The libraries which comprise Nunavut Public Library Services exist in three communities: Qikiqtani, Kivalliq, and Kitik ...
, the public library system serving the territory, also provides various information services to the territory. In September 2012, Premier Aariak welcomed Prince Edward and
Sophie, Countess of Wessex Sophie, Countess of Wessex and Forfar, (born Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones, 20 January 1965) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex and Forfar, the youngest brother of King Charles III. She grew u ...
, to Nunavut as part of the events marking the
Diamond Jubilee A diamond jubilee celebrates the 60th anniversary of a significant event related to a person (e.g. accession to the throne or wedding, among others) or the 60th anniversary of an institution's founding. The term is also used for 75th anniver ...
of Queen Elizabeth II,
Queen of Canada The monarchy of Canada is Canada's form of government embodied by the Canadian sovereign and head of state. It is at the core of Canada's constitutional Canadian federalism, federal structure and Westminster system, Westminster-style Parliamentar ...
.


Administrative regions

Nunavut is divided into three administrative regions, the Kitikmeot Region, the
Kivalliq Region The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional c ...
, and the Qikiqtaaluk Region


Licence plates

The first design for Nunavut's licence plate was originally created for the Northwest Territories in the 1970s. The plate has long been famous worldwide for its unique design in the shape of a polar bear. Nunavut was licensed by the NWT to use the same
licence plate A vehicle registration plate, also known as a number plate (British English), license plate (American English), or licence plate (Canadian English), is a metal or plastic plate attached to a motor vehicle or trailer for official identificatio ...
design in 1999 when it became a separate territory, but adopted its own plate design in March 2012 for launch in August 2012—a rectangle that prominently features the northern lights, a polar bear and an
inuksuk An inuksuk (plural inuksuit) or inukshuk (from the iu, ᐃᓄᒃᓱᒃ, plural ; alternatively in Inuinnaqtun, in Iñupiaq, in Greenlandic) is a type of stone landmark or cairn built by, and for the use of, Inuit, Iñupiat, Kalaallit, Yupi ...
.


Symbols

The flag and the coat of arms of Nunavut were designed by Andrew Qappik from
Pangnirtung Pangnirtung (or Pang, also Pangniqtuuq, in syllabics: ᐸᖕᓂᖅᑑᖅ ) is an Inuit hamlet, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, located on Baffin Island. Pangnirtung is situated on a coastal plain at the coast of P ...
.


Territorial dispute

A long-simmering dispute between Canada and the U.S. involves the issue of Canadian sovereignty over the
Northwest Passage The Northwest Passage (NWP) is the sea route between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The eastern route along the Arc ...
.


Alcohol

Due to prohibition laws influenced by local and traditional beliefs, Nunavut has a highly regulated alcohol market. The territory is the last outpost of prohibition in Canada, and it is often easier to obtain firearms than alcohol. Although every community in Nunavut has slightly differing regulations, as a whole it is still very restrictive. Seven communities have complete bans against alcohol and another 14 have orders being restricted by local committees. Due to these laws, a lucrative bootlegging market has appeared in which people mark up the prices of bottles by extraordinary amounts. The RCMP estimate Nunavut's bootleg liquor market rakes in some $10 million a year. Despite the restrictions, alcohol's availability leads to widespread alcohol related crime. One estimation states some 95% of police calls are alcohol-related. Alcohol is also believed to be a contributing factor to the territory's high rates of violence, suicide, and homicide. A special task force created in 2010 to study and address the territory's increasing alcohol-related problems recommended the government ease alcohol restrictions. With prohibition shown to be highly ineffective historically, some believe these laws contribute to the territory's widespread social ills. Others are skeptical about the effectiveness of liquor sale liberalization and want to ban it completely. In 2014, Nunavut's government moved toward more legalization. In 2017, the first liquor store in 38 years opened in Iqaluit.


Notable people

Susan Aglukark Susan Aglukark, (Inuktitut syllabics: ᓲᓴᓐ ᐊᒡᓘᒃᑲᖅ ''suusan agluukkaq''), (born 27 January 1967) is a Canadian singer whose blend of Inuit folk music traditions with country and pop songwriting has made her a major recording s ...
is an Inuk singer and songwriter. She has released six albums and has won several
Juno Awards The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...
. She blends the Inuktitut and English languages with contemporary pop music arrangements to tell the stories of her people, the Inuit of the Arctic. On May 3, 2008, the
Kronos Quartet The Kronos Quartet is an American string quartet based in San Francisco. It has been in existence with a rotating membership of musicians for almost 50 years. The quartet covers a very broad range of musical genres, including contemporary classic ...
premiered a collaborative piece with Inuit throat singer
Tanya Tagaq Tanya may refer to: * Tanya (Judaism),an early work of Hasidic philosophy by Rabbi Shneur Zalman of Liadi. * Tanya (name), a given name and list of people with the name * Tanya or Lara Saint Paul (born 1946) * List of Mortal Kombat characters#T ...
, entitled ''Nunavut'', based on an Inuit folk story. Tagaq is also known internationally for her collaborations with
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...
ic pop star Björk, and her 2018 novel ''
Split Tooth ''Split Tooth'' is a 2018 novel by Canadian musician Tanya Tagaq. Based in part on her own personal journals, the book tells the story of a young Inuk woman growing up in the Canadian Arctic in the 1970s. The book has been described as a blen ...
'' which was longlisted for the
Scotiabank Giller Prize The Giller Prize (sponsored as the Scotiabank Giller Prize), is a literary award given to a Canadian author of a novel or short story collection published in English (including translation) the previous year, after an annual juried competition be ...
. Jordin John Kudluk Tootoo (Inuktitut syllabics: ᔪᐊᑕᓐ ᑐᑐ; born February 2, 1983, in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada) played in the
National Hockey League The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...
(NHL) for from 2003 to 2017. Although born in Manitoba, Tootoo grew up in Rankin Inlet, where he was taught to skate and play hockey by his father, Barney.
Hunter Tootoo Hunter A. Tootoo ( Inuktitut: Hᐊᓐᑕ ᑐᑐ; born August 18, 1963) is a Canadian politician who served as the Member of Parliament for Nunavut from 2015 to 2019. Elected as a Liberal to the House of Commons, he was appointed Minister o ...
,
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members o ...
for the Territory of Nunavut, was elected to the Liberal government in 2015. He served as the
Minister of Fisheries, Oceans, and the Canadian Coast Guard The minister of fisheries, oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard () is the minister of the Crown in the Canadian Cabinet responsible for supervising the fishing industry, administrating all navigable waterways in the country, and overseeing the o ...
until his resignation from the post on May 31, 2016.


See also

*
Archaeology in Nunavut Canada welcomed its most recent territory, Nunavut, on April 1, 1999, after it separated from the Northwest Territories. With Nunavut's separation from the Northwest Territories came a need for new regulations regarding cultural history. Nunavut h ...
*
List of communities in Nunavut This is a list of communities in Nunavut, Canada. Note that many of these communities have alternate names or spellings in Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun, while others are primarily known by their Inuktitut or Inuinnaqtun names. As of the 2016 census ...
* Symbols of Nunavut *
Nunatsiavut Nunatsiavut (; iu, italics=no, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕗᑦ) is an autonomous area claimed by the Inuit in Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada. The settlement area includes territory in Labrador extending to the Quebec border. In 2002, the Labrador Inui ...
* Nunavik


Footnotes


References


Further reading

* Alia, Valerie (2007).
Names and Nunavut Culture and Identity in Arctic Canada
'. New York: Berghahn Books. . * Henderson, Ailsa (2007).
Nunavut: Rethinking Political Culture
'. Vancouver:
University of British Columbia Press The University of British Columbia Press (UBC Press) is a university press that is part of the University of British Columbia. It was established in 1971. The press is based in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and has editorial offices in Kelo ...
. . * * Kulchyski, Peter Keith (2005).
Like the Sound of a Drum: Aboriginal Cultural Politics in Denendeh and Nunavut
'. Winnipeg:
University of Manitoba Press The University of Manitoba Press (UMP) is an academic publishing house based at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg. Founded in 1967, the UMP is the first university press in western Canada. Publishing 12 to 14 books a year, UMP is regarded as ...
. . * Sanna, Ellyn, and William Hunter (2008). ''Canada's Modern-Day Aboriginal Peoples Nunavut & Evolving Relationships''. Markham, Ont: Scholastic Canada. .


External links

* *
Map showing regions of Nunavut
(from Nunavut Government website)
Legislative Assembly of Nunavut

Nunavut Planning Commission

Annual Nunavut Mining Symposium held in April each year

Nunavut Tunngavik Inc.
Nunavut Land Claims website

* : Martin, Ian. ''Aajiiqatigiingniq Language of Instruction Research Paper''. Nunavut: Dept. of Education, 2000.


Tourism


Explore Nunavut: Travel information and community guides

Nunavut Parks


Journalism


CBC North Radio
hear Inuktitut and English radio from Nunavut
Territorial newspaper reporting in Inuktitut and English
Nunatsiaq News ''Nunatsiaq News'' ( iu, ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᕐᒥ ᐱᕙᓪᓕᐊᔪᑦ, italic=no) is a Canadian weekly newspaper in operation since 1973 based in Iqaluit, serving Nunavut and Nunavik, in Kativik, Nord-du-Québec. The paper is published every Fri ...

Nunavut News
from News/North {{Authority control 1999 establishments in Canada Arctic Ocean Inuit territories States and territories established in 1999 Provinces and territories of Canada