Baffin Island

Baffin Island is in Northern Canada. It is more than twice the size of the United Kingdom.

Yet it has a population of only 11 thousand. There are over 60 million people in the UK.

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

Because it lies above the Arctic Circle for two months in the winter the sun does not rise at all. It is a very dark place then.

However in the summer time the sun is always up, 24 hours a day! This is called the time of the midnight sun, because at midnight the sun is still shining.

People, life and livliehoods

Inuit origins in Canada date back at least 4,000 years.

For thousands of years, Inuit closely observed the climate, landscapes, seascapes and ecological systems of their vast homeland.

Inuit developed skills and technology uniquely adapted to one of the harshest and most demanding environments on earth.

Inuit treat human beings, the land, animals and plants with equal respect.

Today they work and live much like you and I do but in a much colder environment.

Hunting still plays a major part in life and way of living. which include fishing, hunting seal, polar bear as well as Caribou.and mainly live off animals they hunt such as seals and caribou.

Wildlife

Although so few people live on Baffin Island, it has a lot 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 about 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.

Other wildlife include the arctic fox, arctic hare, lemming, arctic wolf and caribou. The arctic foxes usually follow polar bears around as they are scavengers and will eat all the scraps that a polar bear will leave.