Victoria Island (Canada) - Location and Description

Location and Description

Viscount Melville Soundmap1 lies to the north, and the M'Clintock Channelmap2 and Victoria Straitmap3 lie eastward. On the west are Amundsen Gulfmap4 and Banks Island,map5 which is separated from Victoria by a long sound called the Prince of Wales Strait.map6 To the south (from west to east) lies the Dolphin and Union Strait,map7 Austin Bay,map8 Coronation Gulfmap9 and the Dease Strait.map10

The southern waterways, and sometimes the Prince of Wales Strait, form part of the disputed Northwest Passage which the Government of Canada claims are Canadian Internal Waters, while other nations state they are either territorial waters or international waters.

Victoria Island is an island of peninsulas, having a heavily indented coastline with many inlets. In the east, pointing northwards, is the Storkerson Peninsula,map11 which ends with the Goldsmith Channel,map12 the body of water separating Victoria from Stefansson Island.map13 The Storkerson Peninsula is separated from the island's north-central areas by Hadley Bay,map14 a major inlet. Another, broad peninsula is found in the north, Prince Albert Peninsula.map15 This ends at the Prince of Wales Strait. In the south, and pointing westwards, is the Wollaston Peninsula,map16 separated from the island's central areas by Prince Albert Sound. The island as a whole coincidentally resembles a stylized maple leaf, the main Canadian symbol.

The highest point of Victoria Island is 655 m (2,149 ft) in the Shaler Mountainsmap17 in the north-central region. Located in the southeast, just north of Cambridge Bay is Ferguson Lakemap18 with an area of 562 km2 (217 sq mi) is the largest lake on the island.

In the Canada 2006 Census the population of the island was 1,875; 1,477 in Nunavut and 398 in the Northwest Territories. Of the two settlements on the island the largest is Cambridge Bay,map19 which lies on the south-east coast and is in Nunavut. Ulukhaktokmap20 is on the west coast and is in the Northwest Territories. Trading posts, such as Fort Collinsonmap21 on the northwest coast, have long since been abandoned.

The island is named after Queen Victoria, the Canadian sovereign from 1867 to 1901. The features bearing the name "Prince Albert" are named after her consort.

While Victoria Island is part of Canada, it is over 2,000 km (1,200 mi) from the city of Victoria, British Columbia, which is on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean. There is also a smaller Victoria Island in Nunavut, located in Amadjuak Lake on Baffin Island.