Groclant is the name of a

phantom island A phantom island is a purported island which was included on maps for a period of time, but was later found not to exist. They usually originate from the reports of early sailors exploring new regions, and are commonly the result of navigati ...

generally shown off the western side of

Greenland Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. Citizens of Greenlan ...

, first appearing on maps in the late 16th century. The name of the island may be an errant reading of

. One of the first maps to show Groclant was a Mercator map from 1569, where it appeared west of Groenlant. The island was labeled on the map as being inhabited by

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

. One of the last maps to feature Groclant was a Quadus map of 1608. Modern speculation has theorized that Groclant may be

Baffin Island Baffin Island (formerly Baffin Land), in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, is the largest island in Canada, the second-largest island in the Americas (behind Greenland), and the fifth-largest island in the world. Its area is (slightly smal ...

, north of Labrador, in northern Canada.

References

{{Authority control Phantom islands of the Arctic Ocean History of Greenland Baffin Island