Nunavut

 Nunavut

Nunavut is the largest and Northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, through the Nunavut Act, along with the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit natives for independent government.  The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland was created on March 31, 1949.

Nunavut takes up a large chunk of Northern Canada, and accounts for most of the islands within the Arctic Circle. Its huge area makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision internationally, and is also North America's second-largest after Greenland. The capital of Nunavut is called Iqaluit, which was formerly known as Frobisher Bay. It was chosen as capital by a capital plebiscite in 1995. One of the other major regions in the territory include Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. There are also many other populated islands in Nunavut. One of the islands is Canada's only geo-political region that is not connected to the rest of North America by highway.

The Arctic Ocean bounds Nunavut to the north, Greenland (separated from it by a series of narrow straits, Baffin Bay, and Davis Strait) lies to the east, and Quebec adjoins it to the southeast across Hudson Strait and the northeastern arm of Hudson Bay. Its only land boundaries are with Manitoba to the south and the Northwest Territories to the southwest and west.

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Facts:

Nunavut is the least populated of Canada's provinces and territories, just about 4 and a half thousand people less than the Yukon, another territory.

 Nunavut is Canada’s largest province/territory with a total area of 2,093,190 square kilometers or almost 1 million square miles.

If it were a country it would be the 15th largest country in the world.

 The most common languages spoken are Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, English, and French.

Nunavut is home to Tim Horton’s most northern location. As the newest territory, it was the last province/territory to get a Tim’s.

Nunavut’s territorial flower is the purple saxifrage, its animal is the Canadian Inuit Dog, and its bird is the Rock Ptarmigan.

Iqaluit is the only community large enough to be considered as a city in Nunavut.

Nunavut is home to the world’s northernmost permanently inhabited place, Alert.

Nunavut’s earliest sunset was on December 17th at 1:40 pm. And their latest sunrise is December 24th at 9:25 am. However, in the summertime, they get lots of sunlight.

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Some recent events in Nunavut are described in the multiple news channels that exist there. Sanikiluaq resident Lucassie Arragutainaq is a recipient of the 2022 Northern Science Award from Polar Knowledge Canada. This man received the award for showing that Inuit people want to help raise knowledge about climate change and its impacts on the arctic region. Another broadcast is that liquor has been temporarily banned to ensure that children can have a safe Christmas. Another strand of news is that a man from a place called Pangnirtung has been found guilty of drug trafficking, and was sentenced to 36 months in jail. 

Temperatures vary widely by community. The average temperature in Kugluktuk is the warmest in Nunavut, sometimes rising to 30°C in the summer and ranging from -15°C to -40°C in the winter.The coldest community in Nunavut is Grise Fiord, where summer temperatures can sometimes rise above freezing to 5°C and winter temperatures frequently drop to -50°C. Spring temperatures are more consistent throughout the territory, with average daytime highs between -20°C and -10°C.