Resolute Bay

Resolute Bay
Climate diagram
	Temperature in ° C , precipitation in mm
	Source: wetterkontor.de

Resolute Bay
	; Resolute Bay: View from Signal Hill of the Inuit settlement ("Village") and the Resolute Passage, which is covered with drift ice
Location in Nunavut
	Resolute Bay
	Resolute Bay
State :	Canada
Territory :	Nunavut
Region:	Qikiqtaaluk
Coordinates :	74 ° 42 ′ N , 94 ° 50 ′ W Coordinates: 74 ° 42 ′ N , 94 ° 50 ′ W
Area :	116.89 km²
Residents :	198 (as of 2016)
Population density :	1.7 inhabitants / km²
Time zone :	Central Time ( UTC − 6 )
Postal code :	X0A 0V0
Area code :	+1 867
	; Aerial map 1970/71

Resolute Bay (usually just called Resolute for short ) is the second northernmost municipality in the Nunavut Territory , Baffin Region, after Grise Fiord , and has around 200 inhabitants (including 165 Inuit). Located on the south coast of Cornwallis Island , Resolute is divided into two parts - the Inuit settlement in the east and the “technical” part in the west. Resolute has a well-developed runway that is also suitable for jet aircraft and acts as a starting point for all kinds of trips to the “High Arctic”. The area around the Cornwallis Island played an important role in the history of the search for a Northwest Passage , and so the name Resolute is reminiscent of one of the ships that were involved in the search for the failed Franklin expedition and was abandoned here by their crew . The Inuktitut name of the settlement is Qausuittuq, "place without twilight".

history

The Cornwallis Island was already in the time of the Thule culture settlement area, but the island was in the Little Ice Age left cold period called from 1550 to 1850 because of inhospitality. The first European to come here was probably William Edward Parry in 1819. The John Franklin expedition touched the island in 1845/46. In the years that followed, a number of expedition ships passed by in search of the missing John Franklin.

When the Arctic gained growing strategic interest after World War II , a weather station was built on Cornwallis Island in 1947 and a military runway suitable for larger transport aircraft was also laid out. Since the 1950s, an arctic research station of the Polar Continental Shelf Project with the subjects of glaciology and climate change has been maintained near the runway . Between 1966 and 1971, the National Research Council of Canada launched suborbital research rockets here ; a total of 17 missiles of the types Black Brant (12) and Boosted Arcas (5) were fired.

In 1953, the Canadian government transferred nine Inuit families from the communities of Inukjuaq in northern Québec and Pond Inlet on the north coast of Baffin Island to Resolute Bay, an action that is still very controversial (see also Grise Fiord ). In the early 1960s, the government established a school and introduced a residential program. In 1975 the settlement, which was initially built in a place not very suitable for residential purposes, was relocated to a more favorable location, the current location of the Inuit community.

Just under 100 kilometers east of Resolute is the small Beechey Island off Devon Island , where John Franklin and his people wintered in 1845 on his last expedition and buried their first dead. The magnetic north pole is only about 500 kilometers, the geographic north pole about 1,750 kilometers north of the settlement.

Demographics

The census in 2016 showed a population of 198 inhabitants for the settlement, after the census in 2011 showed a population of 216 inhabitants for the settlement. The population decreased by 7.5% compared to the last census in 2011, while the population in the territory increased by 12.7% at the same time. In the census period 2006 to 2011, too, the population had already decreased by 6.6%, contrary to the trend at the time in the territory with an increase of 8.3%.

For the 2016 census, a median age of 25.8 years was determined for the settlement . The median age of the territory in 2016 was only 25.1 years. The average age was 27.8 years, or 27.7 years in the territory. For the 2011 census, a median age of 26.5 years was determined for the settlement. The median age of the territory in 2011 was only 24.1 years.

tourism

Resolute Bay and Beechey Island are occasionally visited by cruise ships on the Northwest Passage .

Scientific research stations

In the vicinity of the Resolute Bay settlement, research laboratories have been set up to study the arctic climate and solar wind activity, as well as a test site for future expeditions to Mars .

traffic

Nearby is Resolute Bay Airport , which is operated by the Territorial Government.

Picture gallery

View over Resolute Bay to the Inuit settlement ("Village")
Lonely graves of sailors on the Franklin Expedition from 1845 on Beechey Island

Climate table

Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Resolute Bay

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Max. Temperature ( ° C )	−28.5	−29.4	−27.7	−19.9	−7.9	1.6	6.8	4.3	−2.8	−12.1	−20.9	−25.5	O	−13.4
Min. Temperature (° C)	−35.8	−36.7	−34.9	−27.3	−14.3	−2.9	1.3	−0.5	−7.3	−18.5	−27.9	−32.7	O	−19.7

Precipitation ( mm )	4th	3	5	6th	8th	13	23	32	23	13	6th	5	Σ	141

Hours of sunshine ( h / d )	0.0	0.7	4.7	9.4	10.0	8.7	8.9	5.2	2.0	0.9	0.0	0.0	O	4.2

Humidity ( % )	65	65	64	71	82	87	84	88	88	82	71	66	O	76.1

Source: wetterkontor.de

literature

Miriam Dewar (Ed.): The Nunavut Handbook: Traveling in Canada's Arctic . Ayaya Marketing & Communications, Iqaluit / Ottawa 2004, ISBN 0-9736754-0-3 (English).

Web links

Individual evidence

↑ ^a ^b Resolute Community Profile. Census 2016. In: Statistics Canada . June 21, 2019, accessed July 20, 2019 .
^ Resolute Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . May 31, 2016, accessed July 20, 2019 .

[Census_2016-1] Resolute Community Profile. Census 2016. In: Statistics Canada . June 21, 2019, accessed July 20, 2019 .

[2] Resolute Community Profile. Census 2011. In: Statistics Canada . May 31, 2016, accessed July 20, 2019 .