Does anyone live on Baffin Island?

Living on Baffin Baffin is hardly half a million square kilometres of barren wilderness. More than 17,000 people (48 per cent of Nunavut’s population) live here and on small surrounding islands in nine coastal communities including Iqaluit, the territory’s capital and only city.

Did the Vikings go to Baffin Island?

Many people now recognize that Vikings were the first Europeans to reach the new world but did you know that it was Baffin Island that they first saw as they left Greenland. Some even know the story of Leif Erikson, but he wasn’t the first to set eyes on the Americas.

What is Baffin Island called now?

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….Baffin Island.

Native name: ᕿᑭᖅᑖᓗᒃ (Qikiqtaaluk)
Territory Nunavut
Largest settlement Iqaluit (pop. 7,429)
Demographics
Population 13,039 (2021)

Are there any towns on Baffin Island?

Major settlements include the Baffin Island towns of Iqaluit (the regional headquarters and territorial capital), Pangnirtung (Panniqtuuq), Pond Inlet (Mittimatalik), and Cape Dorset (Kingnait), as well as Igloolik (Iglulik) on Melville Peninsula.

Are there polar bears on Baffin Island?

The Baffin Bay polar bears inhabit approximately one million square kilometres of land and sea encompassing Baffin Bay, and portions of Baffin Island, all of Bylot Sound, and parts of west and northwest Greenland. Their population is stable at about 2,800 animals, and appears to have been stable for a while.

What is so special about Baffin Island?

Baffin Island is Believed to be the Birth of the Last Ice Age. Surrounded by deep fjords and glacial valleys in Auyuittuq National Park is the Penny Ice Cap which is a remaining piece of, and as some would believe, the birthplace of the last ice age.

Where did the Vikings land in Canada?

Around A.D. 1000, the medieval Norse (Vikings) established the first European settlement, on the northern coast of Newfoundland, but they only stayed for a brief period. At the end of the ninth century, a gradual migration began across the North Atlantic.

Did Vikings discover the Northwest Passage?

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first to successfully navigate the Northwest Passage in 1906. Climate change has caused Arctic ice cover to thin in recent years, opening the passage to marine shipping.

Are there puffins on Baffin Island?

The best time to bird-watch in Baffin Island is from May until August. Some of the bird species you could see include snowy owls, different types of falcons, rough-legged hawks, ptarmigans, ravens, and several seabird species such as puffins and gulls.

How much do you get paid to live in Nunavut?

The GN pays a northern allowance to make up the differences in the cost of living between Nunavut communities and larger designated southern centres. The allowance is paid based on the community of employment. Currently, it varies from $15,016 to $34,455 annually.

Do moose live in Nunavut?

Rather than migrating prior to the cold season, it spends its winter in Nunavut. The caribou and the moose are two deer-species that have a habitat in Arctic Canada.

Are there trees on Baffin Island?

In a yard in Iqaluit, there are two Christmas trees. They are hundreds of kilometres from the treeline and any other black spruce. At about four feet high, they’re in the running to be the tallest trees in Iqaluit. They grow about a centimetre a year, in the few weeks when temperatures in Iqaluit top 10 degrees C.