Somerset Island (Canada)
| Somerset Island | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Waters | Arctic Ocean |
| Geographical location | 73 ° 15 ′ N , 93 ° 30 ′ W |
 |
|
| length | 225 km |
| width | 140 km |
| surface | 24,786 km² |
| Highest elevation | 503 m |
| Residents | uninhabited |
| main place | (Fort Ross) |
Somerset Island is a large island in the Canadian territory of Nunavut . With an area of 24,786 km², it ranks 12th among the largest islands in Canada and 46th among the largest islands in the world . The island reaches a height of 503 m above sea level. It is separated from the mainland and the neighboring Boothia peninsula by the Bellot Strait , discovered by the two Arctic explorers William Kennedy and Joseph-René Bellot and only 2 km wide .
At the end of 1848, James Clark Ross landed on the island's north coast to hibernate in search of the missing Franklin expedition . From 1937 to 1948 there was an outpost of the Hudson's Bay Company on Somerset with Fort Ross , today the island is uninhabited.
Web links
Commons : Somerset Island - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files
Individual evidence
- ↑ The Atlas of Canada - Sea Islands ( Memento from January 22, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) (English)
- ↑ Somerset Island ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia . Retrieved August 22, 2016.