Canada and the High Arctic Islands, 1880–1950

doi:10.1017/9781108555654.014

14 - Canada and the High Arctic Islands, 1880–1950

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 March 2023

Janice Cavell

Edited by

Adrian Howkins and

Peder Roberts

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Adrian Howkins: Affiliation:
University of Bristol
Peder Roberts: Affiliation:
University of Stavanger

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Summary

Of all the north circumpolar lands, only Greenland extends farther towards the top of the globe than the uppermost reaches of the Arctic Archipelago. Politicians and media commentators regularly extol Canada’s identity as a northern nation, yet this area’s official name since 1954 – the Queen Elizabeth Islands – is not widely known or often used, and most citizens’ knowledge of High Arctic geography is rather vague. Only the military station at Alert on the north coast of Ellesmere Island, about 800 km from the pole, stands out clearly amid the general blur.

The High Arctic region’s southern boundary is Parry Channel, the major east–west waterway through the archipelago, in latitude 74° north. Parry Channel also divides the islands where Indigenous people have lived continuously for millennia from those that were abandoned during the harsh climatic conditions of the Little Ice Age (which lasted roughly from 1300 to 1850 ad).

Keywords

Canada Arctic Arctic islands imperialism empire geography exploration sovereignty Northwest Passage

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of the Polar Regions , pp. 325 - 353

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108555654.014 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2023

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