Southampton Island
Southampton Island within Nunavut
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| Geography | |
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| Location | Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin |
| Coordinates | 64°30′N 084°30′W / 64.500°N 84.500°WCoordinates: 64°30′N 084°30′W / 64.500°N 84.500°W |
| Archipelago | Canadian Arctic Archipelago |
| Area | 41,214 km2 (15,913 sq mi) |
| Area rank | 34th |
| Highest elevation | 625 m (2,051 ft) |
| Highest point | Mathiasen Mountain |
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Canada
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| Nunavut | Nunavut |
| Region | Kivalliq |
| Largest settlement | Coral Harbour (pop. 834 ) |
| Demographics | |
| Population | 834 (Canada 2011 Census) |
| Ethnic groups | Inuit |
Southampton Island (Inuktitut: Shugliaq) is a large island at the entrance to Hudson Bay at Foxe Basin. One of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Southampton Island is part of the Kivalliq Region in Nunavut, Canada. The area of the island is stated as 41,214 square kilometres (15,913 square miles) by Statistics Canada. It is the 34th largest island in the world and Canada's ninth largest island. The only settlement on Southampton Island is Coral Harbour (pop. 834, Canada 2011 Census), called in Inuit Salliq.
Southampton Island is one of the few Canadian areas, and the only area in Nunavut, that does not use daylight saving time.
Historically speaking, Southampton Island is famous for its now-extinct inhabitants, the Sadlermiut (modern Inuktitut Sallirmiut "Inhabitants of Salliq"), who were the last vestige of the Tuniit. The Tuniit, a pre-Inuit culture, officially went ethnically and culturally extinct in 1902-03 when infectious disease killed all of the Sallirmiut in a matter of weeks.
The island's first recorded visit by Europeans was in 1613 by Welsh explorer Thomas Button.
At the beginning of the 20th century, the island was repopulated by Aivilingmiut from Repulse Bay and Chesterfield Inlet, influenced to do so by whaler Capt. George Comer and others. Baffin Islanders arrived 25 years later. John Ell, who as a young child travelled with his mother Shoofly on Comer's schooners, eventually became the most famous of Southampton Island's re-settled population.
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