Canada Guide
The North
Nunavut
Home to only around 26,500 people, Nunavut (meaning "Our Land" in the Inuit language) covers almost two million square kilometres – a fifth of Canada's land surface and an area five times the size of California, stretching west from Hudson Bay then north through the great "Barrenlands" of the interior to the Arctic islands in the north. From its western edge to the tip of Baffin Island in the east is 2000km (the distance from Washington DC to Denver). From north to south it's even farther – 2500km, or the distance from London to Moscow.
Long an amorphous political entity administered not as a semi-autonomous province but by the federal government, the Northwest Territories was formally superseded on April 1, 1999 by a land treaty which divided the old territories in two and created a new central and eastern Arctic territory termed Nunavut, which is now firmly established as a political and physical entity.
Most of the region's communities are formed of indigenous Inuit people and lie on the arc of Hudson Bay's western coast, from Arviat in the south through Whale Cove (Tikirarjuaq, "long point"), Rankin Inlet (Kangiqtinq, "deep bay") – the area's main transport and administrative centre – to Chesterfield Inlet (Igluligaarjuk, "place with a few igloos") and Coral Harbour (Salliq, "large flat island") in the north. In all of these places you will find an almost unchanged way of life; the local arts and handicrafts are outstanding, and in places you can hear the old drummers and "throat singers" traditionally responsible for handing down the stories and myths of the Inuit. The entire region has just 21km of highway, with the capital at Iqaluit on Baffin Island home to nearly one-fifth of the province's population.
Exploring this region is hugely rewarding, but far from easy. Access is invariably by plane and therefore expensive. Whatever your interest or activity, the best way to see the area is with one of the many tour companies.