Baffin Island

In comparison the United Kingdom, Baffin Island is more than twice the size. Yet it has a population of only 11,000. If you compare this to the 60,000,000 people in the UK it is a very desolate place.

Baffin Island lies in the Canadian Arctic. It is the largest island in the Canadian archipelago and the fifth largest in the world. It is because it lays in the Arctic that so few people live there.

It is extremely cold in the winter, with temperatures as low as -65C and because it lies above the Arctic Circle for two months in the winter the sun does not rise at all. However as well as this Polar night, in the summer time the sun is always up, 24 hours a day!

People, life and livliehoods

Inuit origins in Canada date back at least 4,000 years. Their culture is deeply rooted in the vast land they inhabit. For thousands of years, Inuit closely observed the climate, landscapes, seascapes and ecological systems of their vast homeland. Through this intimate knowledge of the land and its life forms, Inuit developed skills and technology uniquely adapted to one of the harshest and most demanding environments on earth.

Inuit treated human beings, the land, animals and plants with equal respect. Today, they continue to try to maintain this harmonious relationship. They try to use the resources of land and sea wisely to preserve them for future generations.

Today they work within all service sectors in permenant settlements. Hunting still plays a major part in life and way of living. Hunting activities include fishing, hunting Seal and Polar Bear as well as Caribou.

Wildlife

Although so few people live on Baffin Island, it has quite an array of wildlife that live there year round! The most famous of these in the polar bear. Although it may look cute and cuddly, the polar bear is the world's largest carnivore. A male polar bear weighs approximately 500kg and can easily outrun a human. When standing on its hind legs a polar bear can tower over a human being. It mainly eats seals, but will eat anything that it can kill - including whales and even humans. All visitors to Baffin Island have a great respect for this beautiful but dangerous animal and with care there are not many incidents of human and polar bear coming into contact.