Rice Strait is a narrow

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 ...

between

Ellesmere Island Ellesmere Island ( iu, script=Latn, Umingmak Nuna, lit=land of muskoxen; french: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of , slightly smaller than Great Bri ...

's eastern coast and

Pim Island Pim Island (previously Bedford Pim Island) is located off the eastern coast of Ellesmere Island, part of the Qikiqtaaluk Region of the Canadian territory of Nunavut. Located within the Arctic Archipelago, it is a part of the Queen Elizabeth Isla ...

northern Canada Northern Canada, colloquially the North or the Territories, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to the three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories and ...

's territory of

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'' ...

. It connects Rosse Bay on the south with Buchanan Bay to the north. The strait is named after Sergeant George W. Rice (born 29 June 1855 in Baddeck, Nova Scotia), who was the photographer on

Adolphus Greely Adolphus Washington Greely (March 27, 1844 – October 20, 1935) was a United States Army officer and polar explorer. He attained the rank of major general and was a recipient of the Medal of Honor. A native of Newburyport, Massachusetts an ...

's ill-fated Lady Franklin Bay Expedition, and also a correspondent with the ''New York Herald''. He was the only Canadian on this

United States Army Signal Corps The United States Army Signal Corps (USASC) is a branch of the United States Army that creates and manages communications and information systems for the command and control of combined arms forces. It was established in 1860, the brainchild of ...

sponsored expedition to the Arctic. Rice died on 9 April 1884, before the expedition's rescue.

References

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