Map indicating Barrow Strait, Nunavut, Canada

Barrow Strait is a shipping

waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other languages. A first distinction is necessary b ...

in Northern Canada's territory of

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

. Forming part of the

Parry Channel The Parry Channel ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᐅᑉ ᐃᒪᖓ, ''Tallurutiup Imanga'') is a natural waterway through the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its eastern two-thirds lie in the territory of Nunavut, while its western third (west of 110° ...

, the strait separates several large islands including Cornwallis Island and

Devon Island Devon Island ( iu, ᑕᓪᓗᕈᑎᑦ, ) is an island in Canada and the largest uninhabited island (no permanent residents) in the world. It is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the largest members of the Ar ...

to the north, from Prince of Wales Island, Somerset Island, and

Prince Leopold Island Prince Leopold Island ( iu, ᐅᑉᐸᐃᑦ, ) is an island in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It is located in Lancaster Sound at the junction of Prince Regent Inlet and Barrow Strait. Somerset Island is situated to the southwest; P ...

to the south. The first of its eastern section has no islands, commonly does not freeze until the end of November, nor consolidate until the end of December. Garrett Island,

Lowther Island Lowther Island lies within the Arctic Archipelago in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of northern Canada's territory of Nunavut. It is one of the mid-channel islands in the western sector of Barrow Strait. Bathurst Island (Canada), Bathurst Island and Cornw ...

, Young Island, Hamilton Island, and Russell Island lay south of Bathurst Island. Browne Island, Somerville Island, and

Griffith Island Griffith Island is a small Antarctic island at the south entrance to Robertson Channel in the Windmill Islands. It was first mapped from air photos taken by USN Operation Highjump and Operation Windmill in 1947 and 1948. It was named by the U ...

lay southwest of Cornwallis Island.

Beechey Island Beechey Island ( iu, Iluvialuit, script=Latn) is an island located in the Arctic Archipelago of Nunavut, Canada, in Wellington Channel. It is separated from the southwest corner of Devon Island by Barrow Strait. Other features include Wellington C ...

lies off of Devon Island. From its eastern junction with

Lancaster Sound Lancaster Sound () is a body of water in the Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is located between Devon Island and Baffin Island, forming the eastern entrance to the Parry Channel and the Northwest Passage. East of the sound lies Baffin Bay ...

to its western junction with

Viscount Melville Sound Viscount Melville Sound is an arm of the Arctic Ocean in the Kitikmeot Region, Nunavut and the Inuvik Region, Northwest Territories, Canada. Forming part of the Parry Channel, it separates Victoria Island and Prince of Wales Island from the Qu ...

, the strait measures long. Its eastern mouth, between Prince Leopold Island, and Cape Hurd on Devon Island, is wide. Its western mouth, at Cape Cockburn, southwestern Bathurst Island, is wide. Habitat for

Arctic fox The Arctic fox (''Vulpes lagopus''), also known as the white fox, polar fox, or snow fox, is a small fox native to the Arctic regions of the Northern Hemisphere and common throughout the Arctic tundra biome. It is well adapted to living in co ...

, birds,

polar bear The polar bear (''Ursus maritimus'') is a hypercarnivorous bear whose native range lies largely within the Arctic Circle, encompassing the Arctic Ocean, its surrounding seas and surrounding land masses. It is the largest extant bear specie ...

ringed seal The ringed seal (''Pusa hispida'') is an earless seal inhabiting the Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. The ringed seal is a relatively small seal, rarely greater than 1.5 m in length, with a distinctive patterning of dark spots surrounded by light g ...

, and whales is located along the ice edge, near Leopold Island, while consolidated ice in the strait's central and western sections provides a bridge for

caribou Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

crossing. A strategic waterway from deepwater vessels navigating Arctic waters, the Strait was surveyed in detail by the Soviet Navy during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

References

Straits of Qikiqtaaluk Region Bodies of water of Baffin Bay Parry Channel {{QikiqtaalukNU-geo-stub