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Victoria Island (Canada) |
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Northern Canada |
| Coordinates | Coordinates: |
| Archipelago | Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
| Area | 217,291 km2 (83,897 sq mi)1 |
| Rank | 8th |
| Country | |
 Canada |
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| Territories |  Northwest Territories Nunavut |
| Largest city | Cambridge Bay (1,477) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 1,875 (as of 2006) |
| Ethnic groups | Inuit |
Victoria Island (or Kitlineq)23 is an island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the 8th largest island of the world, and at 217,291 square kilometres (83,897 sq mi)1 is Canada's second largest island and nearly double the size of Newfoundland (111,390 km2 (43,010 sq mi) or slightly larger than the island of Great Britain (209,331 km2 (80,823 sq mi). The western third of the island belongs to the Inuvik Region in the Northwest Territories and the remainder is part of Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region.
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Viscount Melville Sound lies to the north, and the M'Clintock Channel and Victoria Strait lie eastward. On the west are Amundsen Gulf and Banks Island, which is separated from Victoria by a long sound called the Prince of Wales Strait. To the south (from west to east) lies the Dolphin and Union Strait, Austin Bay, Coronation Gulf and the Dease Strait.
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, which ends with the Goldsmith Channel, the body of water separating Victoria from Stefansson Island. The Storkerson Peninsula is separated from the island's north-central areas by Hadley Bay, a major inlet. Another, broad peninsula is found in the north, Prince Albert Peninsula. This ends at the Prince of Wales Strait. In the south, and pointing westwards, is the Wollaston Peninsula, 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.
Victoria Island reaches an elevation of 655 m (2,149 ft) in the Shaler Mountains in the north-central region. Located in the southeast, just north of Cambridge Bay, is Ferguson Lake with an area of 562 km² (217 sq mi) is the largest lake on the island.4
As of the Canada 2006 Census the population of the island is 1,875; 1,477 in Nunavut and 398 in the Northwest Territories. Of the two settlements on the island the largest is Cambridge Bay, which lies on the south-east coast and is in Nunavut. Ulukhaktok is on the west coast and is in the Northwest Territories. Trading posts, such as Fort Collinson 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, of course, named after her consort.
Although Victoria Island is located in Canada, it is more than 2,000 km from the city of Victoria, British Columbia, which is on Vancouver Island in the Pacific Ocean. The island should not be confused with the smaller Victoria Island, also in Nunavut, located in Amadjuak Lake on Baffin Island.5
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