Kimmirut ( Syllabics: ; known as Lake Harbour until 1 January 1996) is a community in the

Qikiqtaaluk Region The Qikiqtaaluk Region, Qikiqtani Region (Inuktitut syllabics: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ ) or the Baffin Region is the easternmost, northernmost, and southernmost administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. Qikiqtaaluk is the traditional Inuktitut nam ...

Nunavut Nunavut 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'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

, Canada. It is located on the shore of

Hudson Strait Hudson Strait () in Nunavut links the Atlantic Ocean and the Labrador Sea to Hudson Bay in Canada. This strait lies between Baffin Island and Nunavik, with its eastern entrance marked by Cape Chidley in Newfoundland and Labrador and Nunavut ...

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...

Meta Incognita Peninsula The Meta Incognita Peninsula is located on southern Baffin Island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is bounded by Hudson Strait to the south, and Frobisher Bay to the north. The hamlet of Kimmirut is on the Hudson Strait on the southern coa ...

. Kimmirut means "heel", and refers to a rocky outcrop in the inlet. It was at one time a

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

trading post, and a

Royal Canadian Mounted Police The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP; , GRC) is the Law enforcement in Canada, national police service of Canada. The RCMP is an agency of the Government of Canada; it also provides police services under contract to 11 Provinces and terri ...

post. The Canadian explorer J. Dewey Soper used these posts as headquarters during his explorations in the 1920s and 1930s. The community is served by

Kimmirut Airport Kimmirut Airport is located at Kimmirut, Nunavut, Canada, and is operated by the Government of Nunavut. Unlike most airports in Nunavut, it uses North Magnetic Pole, magnetic headings for the runway rather than True north, true headings. At th ...

and by annual supply

sealift Sealift is a term used predominantly in military logistics and refers to the use of cargo ships for the deployment of military assets, such as weaponry, vehicles, military personnel, and supplies. It complements other means of transport, such as ...

. A proposal in 2005 for a road to

Iqaluit Iqaluit is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. It is the territory's largest community and its only city, and the northernmost city in Canada. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast on ...

was determined to be impractical owing to roundabout routing over the mountains.

Demographics

In the

2021 Canadian census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada, 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%, whic ...

conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, Kimmirut had a population of 426 living in 116 of its 150 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 389. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

Broadband communications

The community has been served by the

Qiniq Qiniq may refer to: * Qiniq (tribe), a historical Oghuz Turkic tribe * Qiniq (company), a Canadian communications company {{DAB ...

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.

Climate

Kimmirut has an

Arctic climate The climate of the Arctic is characterized by long, cold winters and short, cool summers. There is a large amount of variability in climate across the Arctic, but all regions experience extremes of solar radiation in both summer and winter. Som ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

: ET), although it is well outside the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

. The city has cold winters and short summers that are too cool to permit the growth of trees. It is north of the

tree line The tree line is the edge of a habitat at which trees are capable of growing and beyond which they are not. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually low ...

, and average monthly temperatures are below freezing for eight months of the year. Kimmirut averages just over of precipitation annually, wetter than many other localities in the

Arctic Archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of the Danish Realm, which is, by itself, much larger ...

, with the summer being the wettest season.

Notable residents

* Joe Arlooktoo *

Nakasuk Nakasuk (Inuktitut syllabics: ᓇᑲᓱᒃ ) was an Inuit, Inuk who was born at a Seal hunting, sealing camp near Pangnirtung, Northwest Territories (now Nunavut) in the early 20th century and grew up around Kimmirut, Nunavut, Kimmirut (formerly ...

* Anna Kingwatsiak * Oopik Pitsuilak * Pudlo Pudlat * Jamasie Teevee

Gallery

Image:kimmirut-boat-launch.jpg, Boat launch in Kimmirut. The "heel" can be seen to the left. 2006 File:Hudson's Bay Company in Lake Harbour (now called Kimmirut), Baffin Island (1922).jpg, Hudson's Bay Company in Lake Harbour, 1922 Image:kimmirut-HBC.jpg, Hudson's Bay Company, 2006 Image:kimmirut-soper-house.jpg, The Soper House dates back to the 1930s. 2006. Image:kimmirut-2006.jpg, View of Kimmirut, 2006 Image:Over looking Hudson's Straight Inlet.jpg , View of Southeast Kimmirut, 2017

References

External links

Official site - about

Photos of RCMP and HBC employees
{{Authority control Populated places in Baffin Island Hudson's Bay Company trading posts in Nunavut Hamlets in the Qikiqtaaluk Region Road-inaccessible communities of Nunavut