Qikiqtarjuaq
| Qikiqtarjuaq | |||
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 Part of the settlement of Qikiqtarjuaq |
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| Location in Nunavut | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Territory : | Nunavut | ||
| Region: | Qikiqtaaluk | ||
| Local community: | Qikiqtarjuaq | ||
| Coordinates : | 67 ° 33 ′ N , 64 ° 2 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 0 m - 486 m | ||
| Area : | 130.65 km² | ||
| Residents : | 520 (status: 2011-05-10) | ||
| Population density : | 4 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | UTC − 5 | ||
| Postal code : | X0A 0B0 | ||
| Area code : | +1 867 | ||
| Mayor : | Mary Killik Tea | ||
| Website : | www.qikiqtarjuaq.com | ||
 Iceberg off Qikiqtarjuaq (Davis Strait) |
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Qikiqtarjuaq ( translated from Inuktitut : "Big Island"; former name: Broughton Island), Nunavut Territory , is a settlement with around 520 inhabitants (91% of them Inuit ) located on the island of the same name on the east coast of Baffin Island on Davis Strait , also known as the "Iceberg Capital of the World". The place owes this name to the innumerable icebergs, most of which come from the Sermeq-Kujalleq glacier and drift from the Ilulissat ice fjord on the west coast of Greenland in a wide arc across Baffin Bay and Davis Strait to the south past Qikiqtarjuaq.
The region was first settled about 4,000 years ago; Thule people , the immediate ancestors of the Inuit, immigrated from Alaska about 1,000 years ago and left their mark. In 1585, John Davis was the first European to come here. Kivituq, 60 kilometers northwest of Qikiqtarjuaq on the mainland, and Padloping Island, approximately 90 kilometers to the south, became important anchorages for whaling ships . Kivituq was not abandoned until the mid-1920s; Relics, such as a small cemetery, can still be viewed today.
With the development of the DEW Line ("Distant Early Warning Line"), which began in 1955 , Inuit came to Qikiqtarjuaq looking for work from the area of Kivituq and Padloping Island, but also from more distant places such as the Clyde River and Pangnirtung , which resulted in extensive family relationships to explain. In 1960 the Hudson's Bay Company set up a warehouse. In 1968 the Canadian government dissolved the traditional camps at Kivituq and Padloping Island in a relatively rigorous manner and relocated all residents to Qikiqtarjuaq.
There is a scheduled flight connection ( First Air Ltd.) with Iqaluit via Pangnirtung and Pond Inlet via the Clyde River.
The island is an ideal starting point for backpacking and ski tours in the Auyuittuq National Park (north entrance).
literature
- Miriam Dewar (Ed.): The Nunavut Handbook: Traveling in Canada's Arctic . Ayaya Marketing & Communications, Iqaluit / Ottawa 2004, ISBN 0-9736754-0-3 (English).
