Kitikmeot Region (;

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

: ''Qitirmiut'' ) is an

administrative region 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 ...

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

, Canada. It consists of the southern and eastern parts 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 eighth-largest island in the world, and at in area, it is ...

with the adjacent part of the mainland as far as the Boothia Peninsula, together with

King William Island King William Island (french: Île du Roi-Guillaume; previously: King William Land; iu, Qikiqtaq, script=Latn) is an island in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, which is part of the Arctic Archipelago. In area it is between and making it the 6 ...

and the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. The regional centre is

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 settle ...

(population 1,766;). Before 1999, Kitikmeot Region existed under slightly different boundaries as Kitikmeot Region, Northwest Territories.

Transportation

Access to the territorial capital of Iqaluit is difficult and expensive as the only direct flight is from

, which began during the

COVID-19 pandemic in Canada The COVID-19 pandemic in Canada is part of the ongoing worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (). It is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (). Most cases over the course of the pandemic have been in Ontario, Que ...

. For example, Iqaluit is approximately from Kugaaruk, the closest Kitikmeot community. A one-way flight to the capital costs between $2,691 and $2,911 (as of November 2016) and involves flying to, along with an overnight stay in, Yellowknife,

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. ...

, approximately southwest of Kugaaruk—in total, a trip of about . As is the case for the rest of Nunavut, there is no road access to the region and all places are fly-in. All five hamlets have certified airports: Cambridge Bay Airport, Gjoa Haven Airport, Kugaaruk Airport, Kugluktuk Airport and Taloyoak Airport, with scheduled flights by

Canadian North Bradley Air Services, operating as Canadian North, is a wholly Inuit-owned airline headquartered in Kanata, Ontario, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger services to communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut and the Nunavik regio ...

and First Air. Gjoa Haven

There are also four registered

aerodrome An aerodrome (Commonwealth English) or airdrome (American English) is a location from which aircraft flight operations take place, regardless of whether they involve air cargo, passengers, or neither, and regardless of whether it is for publi ...

s in the region. Cambridge Bay Water Aerodrome is a floatplane base open in the summer only. George Lake Aerodrome, an ice runway is only open from January to April, and serves the Back River Gold Project. Goose Lake Aerodrome also serves the Back River Gold Project and has both ice and gravel runways. Hope Bay Aerodrome serves the Hope Bay mine site and is a gravel runway. The former Doris Lake Aerodrome, was a ice runway, and was the longest in the region, it served the Doris Lake mine. View of Kugaaruk

Climate

The Kitikmeot Region has a harsh

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, g ...

(

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, nota ...

''Dfc'') and a tundra climate (''Dfc'') with long, very cold winters and short, cool summers.

Politics

The region is home to the only two communities in Nunavut that voted "no" in the 1982 division plebiscite:

and Kugluktuk. Taloyoak 01

The region has four electoral districts; *

, which covers

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 ...

, Cambridge Bay and Umingmaktok. The seat is held by

Jeannie Ehaloak Jeannie Hakongak Ehaloak is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2017 general election. She represents the electoral district of Cambridge Bay. Prior to her election to the legislature, Ehaloak s ...

. * Gjoa Haven, which covers the community of Gjoa Haven and is held by

Tony Akoak Tony Akoak (born 1957 or 1958) is a Canadian politician, who is the 12th and current Speaker of the Legislative Assembly. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in the 2013 election. He represents the electoral district of Gjoa ...

. * Kugluktuk, which covers Kugluktuk. The seat is currently held by

Calvin Pedersen Calvin Avigak Pedersen is a Canadian politician, who was elected to the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut in July 2020. Representing the electoral district of Kugluktuk, he was directly acclaimed to office as the only candidate to register by the ...

, who was elected by

acclamation 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 ...

in a July 2020

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 ...

Netsilik The Netsilik (Netsilingmiut) are Inuit who live predominantly in Kugaaruk and Gjoa Haven of the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and to a smaller extent in Taloyoak and the north Qikiqtaaluk Region, in Canada. They were, in the early 20th century, amon ...

, which covers Taloyoak and Kugaaruk. The seat is held by

Emiliano Qirngnuq Emiliano Qirngnuq is a Canadian politician, who was elected as the Member of the Legislative Assembly for the electoral district of Netsilik in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut at a by-election held 8 February 2016. Qirngnuq is from the ham ...

. Former districts include

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 (whic ...

, which covered Kugaaruk and Naujaat in the Kivalliq Region. It was the ony electoral district in Nunavut to cross two regions.

Nattilik Nattilik was a territorial electoral district ( riding) for the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut, Canada. The riding consisted of the communities of Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. Gjoa Haven is now a part of the Gjoa Haven riding and Taloyoak is a pa ...

, which covered Gjoa Haven and Taloyoak. The previous incumbent was the former federal Minister of Health, Leona Aglukkaq. In 2007 at their AGM, Bob Lyall, a board member of the Kitikmeot Inuit Association, suggested the formation of a political party called the ''Bloc Kitikmeot'' to run in the next

general election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

and to advocate for a separate Kitikmeot Territory. Bobby Lyall, along with his brother Kitikmeot Corporation president, Charlie Lyall and delegates Martina and Connie Kapolak, argued that the Government of Nunavut had spent most of the infrastructure money available from the federal government in the Baffin Region (Qikiqtaaluk Region). However, the party was not formed and consequently no members ran for a seat in the Legislative Assembly of Nunavut which continues to run as a consensus government.

Communities

Hamlets

population: 1,766; * Gjoa Haven population: 1,324 * Kugaaruk population: 933 * Kugluktuk population: 1,491 * Taloyoak population: 1029

Other

population: 0 * Umingmaktok population: 5 * Kitikmeot, Unorganized population: 0

Protected areas

Ovayok Territorial Park Ovayok Territorial Park (sometimes Uvajuq, formerly Mount Pelly) is a park situated east of Cambridge Bay, in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut, Canada. The park is relatively small and covers an area of approximately . The park can be accessed by ...

* Northwest Passage Territorial Park * Kugluk/Bloody Falls Territorial Park *

Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary The Queen Maud Gulf Migratory Bird Sanctuary is Canada's largest federally owned protected area, encompassing some of the Arctic Circle coastline. are marine, and are terrestrial.

* Wrecks of HMS ''Erebus'' and HMS ''Terror'' National Historic Site

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population 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 cultu ...

, the Kitikmeot Region had a population of living in of its total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of . With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. The Kitikmeot Region also doubles as one of three census divisions in Nunavut, the others being the Kivalliq2011 Canada Census
Kivalliq Region (also known as the Keewatin) and the Qikiqtaaluk2011 Canada Census
Qikiqtaaluk Region (also known as the Baffin) regions. Of the three the Kitikmeot is the smallest in size being smaller than the Kivalliq. It has the smallest population and is the least densely populated of the three. The population is predominantly

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 Territorie ...

(90.0%) with 0.7% other aboriginal peoples, 0.3% North American Indian and 0.4%

Métis The Métis ( ; Canadian ) are Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous peoples who inhabit Canada's three Canadian Prairies, Prairie Provinces, as well as parts of British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, and the Northern United State ...

, and 9.3% non-Aboriginals.2011 Aboriginal Population Profile
/ref>

Notes

References

External links

Kitikmeot Region information at Explore Nunavut

Kitikmeot Heritage Society

Kitikmeot Inuit Association
*
Kitikmeot Corporation
economic development
Kitikmeot School Operations
{{coord, 68, 55, N, 100, 45, W, region:CA-NU_type:adm2nd_scale:10000000, display=title, name=Kitikmeot Region Kitikmeot Region, Census divisions of Nunavut