Graham Island (Haida Gwaii)
| Graham Island | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | Pacific Ocean | |
| Archipelago | Haida Gwaii | |
| Geographical location | 53 ° 20 ′ N , 132 ° 25 ′ W | |
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| surface | 6th 361 km² | |
| Residents | 4475 (2001) <1 inh / km² |
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| main place | Queen Charlotte City | |
Graham Island ( Haida Haida Gwaii 'Land of Haida' ) is the main island of Haida Gwaii , a group of islands off the northwest coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia in the Pacific Ocean . It is the second largest Pacific island in the province and was named in 1853 by the captain of the British Royal Navy James Prevost , who named it after the British statesman and then first lord of the Admiralty, James Graham .
On August 22, 1949 at 8:01 am ( PDT ), the island was shaken by the earthquake off the Queen Charlotte Islands , which reached a magnitude of 8.1 on the moment-magnitude scale and was the strongest safely measured earthquake in Canada to date History was. It had its epicenter east of Graham Island in the Queen Charlotte Fault .
Geographical location
The island has an area of 6361 km² with a coastline of 1106 km. The Skidegate Channel , a narrow strait in the south, separates it from the second main island, Moresby Island (Haida: Gwaii Hanas ).
The Hecate Strait , which separates Graham Island from mainland British Columbia, reaches its narrowest point between Rose Spit and Stephens Island with a width of about 55 kilometers.
population
A large part of the approximately 4,500 inhabitants settle in the following six settlements:
- Juskatla - lumberjack settlement with about five inhabitants
- Masset - about 950 residents at the end of Highway 16 or Yellowhead Highway
- Port Clements - about 450 residents
- Queen Charlotte City - about 950 residents
- Skidegate - BC Ferries' ferry port with around 780 inhabitants
- Tlell - Settlement at the southern end of Naikoon Provincial Park with about 220 inhabitants
A large part of the inhabitants belong to the Haida people , in Skidegate and Old Masset are the Tribal Centers of the Council of the Haida Nation.
Infrastructure
The BC Ferries service provides a connection between Skidegate and Prince Rupert , as well as Skidegate and Alliford Bay on Moresby Island.
The Yellowhead Highway is the only road of supraregional importance, there are also some unpaved roads, which are mostly concentrated in the southeast of the island.
In addition to several other protected areas (e.g. various Ecological Reserves ), there are also two provincial parks on the island, Naikoon Provincial Park and Pure Lake Provincial Park .
Web links
- Graham Island (Haida Gwaii) . In: BC Geographical Names (English)
- Graham Island on britishcolumbia.com (English)
Individual evidence
- ^ Andrew Scott: The Encyclopedia of Raincoast Place Names: A Complete Reference to Coastal British Columbia . Harbor Publishing, Madeira Park, BC 2009, ISBN 978-1-55017-484-7 , pp. 232 (English).
- ↑ The M8.1 Haida Gwaii (formerly Queen Charlotte Islands) Earthquake of August 22, 1949. Natural Resources Canada , March 11, 2019, accessed August 25, 2020 .
- ^ The Atlas of Canada. Sea Islands. Natural Resources Canada , archived from the original on January 22, 2013 ; accessed on November 22, 2013 (English).