Borden Island

Borden Island

Borden Island, NWT/Nunavut
Borden Island
Geography
Location Northern Canada
Coordinates 78°30′03″N 111°13′12″W / 78.50083°N 111.22000°W / 78.50083; -111.22000 (Borden Island)Coordinates: 78°30′03″N 111°13′12″W / 78.50083°N 111.22000°W / 78.50083; -111.22000 (Borden Island)
Archipelago Queen Elizabeth Islands
Canadian Arctic Archipelago
Area 2,795 km2 (1,079 sq mi)
Length 94 km (58.4 mi)
Width 82 km (51 mi)
Administration
Canada
Territory Nunavut;
Northwest Territories
Demographics
Population Uninhabited

Borden Island is an uninhabited, low-lying island in the Queen Elizabeth Islands of northern Canada.

Some features and history

With an area of 2,795 km2 (1,079 sq mi) in size, 93.9 kilometres (58.3 mi) long and 82 kilometres (51 mi) wide, it is the 171st largest island in the world, and Canada's 30th largest island. It lies north of Mackenzie King Island and is similarly split between Northwest Territories (larger portion) and Nunavut, with the border running along the 110th meridian west.

The first known sighting of the island was by Vilhjalmur Stefansson in 1916, it was originally described as a single landmass.[1] However, in 1947, during an aerial survey by the Royal Canadian Air Force the island was found to be two islands divided by Wilkins Strait.[2]

Naming

The island is named for Robert Borden, Prime Minister of Canada 1911-1920.

References

  1. Stefansson, Vilhjalmur (1922). The Friendly Arctic: The Story of Five Years in Polar Regions. New York: Macmillan.
  2. Thomson, Don W., Skyview Canada: A Story of Aerial Photography in Canada, R.B.W. Ltd: Ottawa, Canada, 1975, p. 130

Further reading

  • Geological Survey of Canada, John Adams, and Heather Penney. The 1956 June 3 Arctic Margin Earthquake Off Borden Island, Northwest Territories. Open file (Geological Survey of Canada), 2693. 1993.
Borden Island, shown at the northeast of the map.

External links


This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 11/11/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.