Gjoa Haven
|
Gjoa Haven ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑑᖅ Uqsuqtuuq |
|
|---|---|
| Hamlet | |
Main street of Gjoa Haven
|
|
 Gjoa Haven
|
|
| Coordinates: 68°37′33″N 095°52′30″W / 68.62583°N 95.87500°WCoordinates: 68°37′33″N 095°52′30″W / 68.62583°N 95.87500°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Territory | Nunavut |
| Region | Kitikmeot Region |
| Electoral district | Gjoa Haven |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Allen Aglukkaq |
| • MLA | Tony Akoak |
| • MP | Hunter Tootoo |
| Area | |
| • Total | 28.47 km2 (10.99 sq mi) |
| • Population Centre | 0.78 km2 (0.30 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 47 m (154 ft) |
| Population (2016) | |
| • Total | 1,324 |
| • Density | 46.5/km2 (120/sq mi) |
| • Population Centre | 1,197 |
| • Population Centre density | 1,500/km2 (4,000/sq mi) |
| Time zone | MST (UTC-7) |
| • Summer (DST) | MDT (UTC-6) |
| Canadian Postal code | X0B 1J0 |
| Area code(s) | 867 |
| Website | www |
Gjoa Haven (/ˌdʒoʊ ˈheɪvən/; Inuktitut: Uqsuqtuuq, syllabics: ᐅᖅᓱᖅᑑᖅ, meaning "lots of fat", referring to the abundance of sea mammals in the nearby waters) is a hamlet in Nunavut, above the Arctic Circle, located in the Kitikmeot Region, 1,056 km (656 mi) northeast of Yellowknife, Northwest Territories. It is the only settlement on King William Island.
The name Gjoa Haven is from the Norwegian Gjøahavn or "Gjøa's Harbour"; it was named by early 20th-century polar explorer Roald Amundsen after his ship Gjøa. This was derived from the old Norse name Gyða, a compressed compound form of Guðfríðr (guð "god" and fríðr "beautiful"').
In 1903, the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen had entered the area on his ship Gjøa in an expedition intending to travel through the Northwest Passage. By October the straits through which he was travelling began to ice up. Amundsen put Gjøa into a natural harbour on the southeast coast of King William Island. He stayed there, in what Amundsen called "the finest little harbor in the world", for nearly two years. He and his crew spent much of that time with the local Netsilik Inuit, learning from them the skills to live off the land and travel efficiently in the Arctic environment. This knowledge proved to be vital for Amundsen's later successful exploration to the South Pole. He explored the Boothia Peninsula, searching for the exact location of the North Magnetic Pole.
...
Wikipedia