Southampton Island (

Inuktitut Inuktitut (; , syllabics ; from , "person" + , "like", "in the manner of"), also Eastern Canadian Inuktitut, is one of the principal Inuit languages of Canada. It is spoken in all areas north of the tree line, including parts of the provinces o ...

: ''Shugliaq'') is a large island at the entrance to

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay ( crj, text=ᐐᓂᐯᒄ, translit=Wînipekw; crl, text=ᐐᓂᐹᒄ, translit=Wînipâkw; iu, text=ᑲᖏᖅᓱᐊᓗᒃ ᐃᓗᐊ, translit=Kangiqsualuk ilua or iu, text=ᑕᓯᐅᔭᕐᔪᐊᖅ, translit=Tasiujarjuaq; french: b ...

at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the

Arctic Archipelago The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark). Situated in the northern extremity of No ...

, Southampton Island is part of the

Kivalliq Region The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional c ...

Nunavut Nunavut ( , ; iu, ᓄᓇᕗᑦ , ; ) is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the '' Nunavut Act'' and the '' Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act'' ...

, Canada. The area of the island is stated as by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultu ...

. It is the 34th largest island in the world and Canada's ninth largest island. The only settlement on Southampton Island is Coral Harbour (population 1035,

Canada 2021 Census The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sl ...

), called ''Salliq'' in Inuktitut. Southampton Island is one of the few Canadian areas, and the only area in Nunavut, that does not use

daylight saving time Daylight saving time (DST), also referred to as daylight savings time or simply daylight time (United States, Canada, and Australia), and summer time (United Kingdom, European Union, and others), is the practice of advancing clocks (typicall ...

History

Historically speaking, Southampton Island is famous for its now-extinct inhabitants, the '' Sadlermiut'' (modern

''Sallirmiut'' "Inhabitants of '' Salliq''"), who were the last vestige of the '' Tuniit'' or Dorset. The ''Tuniit'', a pre-

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territorie ...

culture, officially went ethnically and culturally extinct in 1902-03 when

infectious disease An infection is the invasion of tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmissible disease or communicable di ...

killed all of the ''Sallirmiut'' in a matter of weeks. The island's first recorded visit by Europeans was in 1613 by

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

explorer

Thomas Button Sir Thomas Button (died April, 1634) was a Welsh officer of the Royal Navy, notable as an explorer who in 1612–1613 commanded an expedition that unsuccessfully attempted to locate explorer Henry Hudson and to navigate the Northwest Passage. ...

Glacial rebound on Southhampton Island, Nunavut

At the beginning of the 20th century, the island was repopulated by Aivilingmiut from

Naujaat Naujaat ( iu, ᓇᐅᔮᑦ, lit=seagulls' nesting place), known until 2 July 2015 as Repulse Bay, is an Inuit hamlet situated on the Arctic Circle. It is located on the shores of Hudson Bay, at the south end of the Melville Peninsula, in the ...

and Chesterfield Inlet, influenced to do so by

whaler A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales. Terminology The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...

Captain

George Comer Captain George Comer (April 1858 – 1937) was considered the most famous American whaling captain of Hudson Bay, and the world's foremost authority on Hudson Bay Inuit in the early 20th century. Comer was a polar explorer, whaler/ sealer, ethno ...

and others.

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is , slightly larger than Spain; its population was 13,039 as of the 2021 Canadia ...

ers arrived 25 years later. John Ell, who as a young child travelled with his mother Shoofly on Comer's schooners, eventually became the most famous of Southampton Island's re-settled population. The Native Point archaeological site at the mouth of Native Bay is the largest Sadlermiut site on the island.

Geology

Southampton Island does have geological resources that are of scientific and industrial interest. However, full knowledge of the island is still lacking according to the Nunavut government.

Geography

It is separated from the

Melville Peninsula Melville Peninsula is a large peninsula in the Canadian Arctic north of Hudson Bay. To the east is Foxe Basin and to the west the Gulf of Boothia. To the north the Fury and Hecla Strait separates it from Baffin Island. To the south Repulse B ...

by Frozen Strait. Other waterways surrounding the island include Roes Welcome Sound to the west, Bay of Gods Mercy in the southwest,

Fisher Strait Fisher Strait () is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It separates Southampton Island (to the north-west) from Coats Island Coats Island (Inuktitut: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ, Appatuu ...

in the south,

Evans Strait Evans Strait () is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago in the territory of Nunavut. It separates Southampton Island's Bell Peninsula (to the north) from Coats Island Coats Island (Inuktitut: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊ ...

in the southeast, and

Foxe Channel The Foxe Channel () is an area of sea in Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It separates the Foxe Basin (to the north) from Hudson Bay and the Hudson Strait (to the south). To the west and south-west is Southampton Island, to the east is Baffin ...

in the east. Hansine Lake is located in the far north.

Bell Peninsula The Bell Peninsula (previously known as Bell Island) is located on southeastern Southampton Island, in the Kivalliq Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is in close proximity to the small Inuit community of Coral Harbour. The southern shores make up the no ...

is located in the southeastern part of the island. Mathiassen Mountain, a member of the

Porsild Mountains Porsild is a surname, and may refer to: *Anntonia Porsild, Thai-Danish model, actress and beauty pageant titleholder *Morten Pedersen Porsild Morten Pedersen Porsild (1 September 1872, Glibstrup near Store Andst – 30 April 1956, Copenhagen) wa ...

, is the island's highest peak. The island's shape is vaguely similar to that of

Newfoundland Newfoundland and Labrador (; french: Terre-Neuve-et-Labrador; frequently abbreviated as NL) is the easternmost province of Canada, in the country's Atlantic region. The province comprises the island of Newfoundland and the continental region ...

Climate

Southampton Island has a severe

subarctic climate The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...

( Köppen ''Dfc'') which transitions into a

tundra climate The tundra climate is a polar climate sub-type located in high latitudes and high mountains. undra climate https://www.britannica.com/science/tundra-climateThe Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2019 It is classified as ET according to Köppen ...

(''ET''). Like almost all of Nunavut, Southampton Island is entirely above the

tree line The tree line is the edge of the habitat at which trees are capable of growing. It is found at high elevations and high latitudes. Beyond the tree line, trees cannot tolerate the environmental conditions (usually cold temperatures, extreme snow ...

. Coral Harbour has never gone above freezing in January, February and March (although the latter has recorded . Due to the frozen nature of

, there is a severe

seasonal lag Seasonal lag is the phenomenon whereby the date of maximum average air temperature at a geographical location on a planet is delayed until some time after the date of maximum insolation (i.e. the summer solstice). This also applies to the mini ...

until June, especially compared to more continental areas such as

Fairbanks Fairbanks is a home rule city and the borough seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough in the U.S. state of Alaska. Fairbanks is the largest city in the Interior region of Alaska and the second largest in the state. The 2020 Census put the p ...

despite much sunshine and perpetual twilight at night. Due to the drop of solar strength and the absence of warm water even in summer, temperatures still drop off very fast as September approaches. Cold extremes are severe, but in line with many areas even farther south in Canada's interior.

Fauna

East Bay Migratory Bird Sanctuary and Harry Gibbons Migratory Bird Sanctuary are located on the island and are important breeding sites for the lesser snow goose (''Anser caerulescens caerulescens''). The island is also the site of two

Important Bird Area An Important Bird and Biodiversity Area (IBA) is an area identified using an internationally agreed set of criteria as being globally important for the conservation of bird populations. IBA was developed and sites are identified by BirdLife Inte ...

s (IBAs), the Boas River wetlands in the southwest and

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

/ Native Bay in the southeast. Both host large summer colonies of the lesser snow goose, together comprising over 10% of the world's snow goose population, with Boas River site alone hosting over 500.000 individuals nesting there. Smaller, but also important, are the colonies of the

brent goose The brant or brent goose (''Branta bernicla'') is a small goose of the genus ''Branta''. There are three subspecies, all of which winter along temperate-zone sea-coasts and breed on the high-Arctic tundra. The Brent oilfield was named after t ...

(''Branta bernicla'') and numerous other polar bird species there. Southampton Island is one of two main summering grounds known for bowhead whales in Hudson Bay.http://www.nwmb.com/en/public-hearings/2008/mar-06-2008-level-of-tah-for-bowhead-whales/552-tab16-arctic-2000/file

Gallery

File:Southampton Island 1913.jpg, Capt. Capt. George Comer's 1913 map of Southampton. File:Wfm southampton island.jpg, Satellite photo montage of Southampton Island