Komakuk Beach was the site of a

DEW Line The Distant Early Warning Line, also known as the DEW Line or Early Warning Line, was a system of radar stations in the northern Arctic region of Canada, with additional stations along the north coast and Aleutian Islands of Alaska (see Proje ...

station, located on the

Arctic The Arctic (; . ) is the polar regions of Earth, polar region of Earth that surrounds the North Pole, lying within the Arctic Circle. The Arctic region, from the IERS Reference Meridian travelling east, consists of parts of northern Norway ( ...

coast of

Yukon Yukon () is a Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada, bordering British Columbia to the south, the Northwest Territories to the east, the Beaufort Sea to the north, and the U.S. state of Alaska to the west. It is Canada’s we ...

, Canada. The station was closed in 1993 pursuant to the general policy of dismantling such stations that was adopted following the collapse of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, which effectively ended the

Cold War The Cold War was a period of global Geopolitics, geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist Eastern Bloc, which lasted from 1947 unt ...

and obviated the need to maintain these installations. Komakuk Beach had been the scene of considerable environmental damage, which took seven years to clean up; following this, the site was incorporated into

Ivvavik National Park Ivvavik National Park ( ) is a national park of Canada located in the Yukon. Initially named "Northern Yukon National Park," the park was renamed Ivvavik in 1992 for the Inuvialuktun word meaning "nursery" or "birthplace," in reference to the im ...

in 2000. The immediate area surrounding the former station is completely uninhabited, as the northernmost settlement within Yukon is at

Old Crow Old Crow is a low-priced brand of Kentucky-made straight bourbon whiskey distilled by Suntory Global Spirits, which also produces Jim Beam and several other brands of whiskey. The current Old Crow product uses the same mash bill and yeast as ...

, approximately to the south. Situated in a narrow coastal plain at the base of the

Richardson Mountains The Richardson Mountains are a mountain range located west of the mouth of the Mackenzie River in northern Yukon, Canada. They parallel the northernmost part of the boundary between Yukon and Northwest Territories. Although some sources consider ...

and having a

tundra In physical geography, a tundra () is a type of biome where tree growth is hindered by frigid temperatures and short growing seasons. There are three regions and associated types of tundra: #Arctic, Arctic, Alpine tundra, Alpine, and #Antarctic ...

climate Climate is the long-term weather pattern in a region, typically averaged over 30 years. More rigorously, it is the mean and variability of meteorological variables over a time spanning from months to millions of years. Some of the meteoro ...

, Komakuk Beach is located at 69°35' North latitude and 140°11' West longitude. The indigenous

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 ...

population of Komakuk Beach, together with that of

Herschel Island Herschel Island (; Inuvialuktun: ) is an island in the Beaufort Sea (part of the Arctic Ocean), which lies off the coast of Yukon in Canada, of which it is administratively a part. Part of the Arctic Archipelago, it is Yukon's only large of ...

(Qiqiktaruk), were relocated to the

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

in 1993, chiefly to the "twin cities" of

Aklavik Aklavik (Inuvialuktun: ''Akłarvik'') (from the Inuvialuktun meaning '' barrenground grizzly place'') is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community served ...

and

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories, third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Re ...

Climate

References

Landforms of Yukon Brooks Range {{Yukon-geo-stub