Deleted:Grise Fiord

Template:Infobox settlement

Grise Fiord, (Inuktitut: Aujuittuq, "place that never thaws"; Inuktitut syllabics: ᐊᐅᔪᐃᑦᑐᖅ) is a small Inuit hamlet in the Qikiqtaaluk Region in the territory of Nunavut, Canada. Despite its low population (141 residents as of the Canada 2006 Census), it is the largest community on Ellesmere Island. It is also one of the coldest inhabited places in the world, with an average yearly temperature of -16.5 degrees Celsius (2.3 degrees Fahrenheit).

Geography

Grise Fiord is the northernmost civilian settlement in Canada, but was eclipsed by Alert eight hundred km north as North America's northernmost community when Environment Canada and the Canadian Forces began to station permanent personnel there.

Located at the southern tip of Ellesmere Island, Grise Fiord is one of three permanent settlements on the island. Grise Fiord lies 1,160 km () north of the Arctic Circle.

Grise Fiord lies in the Arctic Cordillera mountain range which is the only major mountain system east of the Canadian Rockies.

Living conditions

Transportation

There are no major highways on Ellesmere Island, so Grise Fiord is connected to the rest of the island and the world by Grise Fiord Airport.

Crime and safety

A Simon Fraser University study of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) activity in the Baffin Region states that Grise Fiord had the lowest rate of criminal offences of all communities looked at in 1992, and cites a 1994 Statistics Canada survey that gives the highest perception of personal safety.

Climate

The climate in Grise Fiord is severely cold. Grise Fiord has an Arctic climate, which means that there is less than 250 mm () precipitation, and temperature stays below Template:Convert/C for eight months of the year. The record low was Template:Convert/C. It has an average yearly temperature of Template:Convert/C.

Climate data for Grise Fiord airport
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Record high °C (°F)	−2	−1	−5	7	11	17	18	18	7	3	4	−1	18
Average high °C (°F)	−18	−18	−18	−12	−3	2	4	2	0	−6	−13	−15	−7
Daily mean °C (°F)	−18	−18	−19	−13	−5	0	2	1	−1	−7	−14	−16	−8
Average low °C (°F)	−21	−21	−21	−16	−6	−1	1	0	−2	−9	−16	−18	−10
Record low °C (°F)	−32	−36	−36	−32	−15	−10	−10	−10	−8	−22	−26	−28	−36
Source: http://www.weatherreports.com/Grise_Fiord_Airport,_Canada?units=c

History

Settlement

File:Grise Fiord harbour.jpg

Grise Fiord Harbour

Main article: High Arctic relocation

The settlement (and Resolute) was created by the Canadian government in 1953, partly to assert sovereignty in the High Arctic during the Cold War. Eight Inuit families from Inukjuak, Quebec (on the Ungava Peninsula) were relocated after being promised homes and game to hunt, but the relocated people discovered no buildings and very little familiar wildlife. They were told that they would be returned home after a year if they wished, but this offer was later withdrawn as it would damage Canada's claims to sovereignty in the area and the Inuit were forced to stay. Eventually, the Inuit learned the local beluga whale migration routes and were able to survive in the area, hunting over a range of 18,000 square kilometres (6,950 sq mi) each year.

In 1993, the Canadian government held hearings to investigate the relocation program. The Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples issued a report entitled The High Arctic Relocation: A Report on the 1953-55 Relocation, recommending a settlement. The government paid $10 million CAD to the survivors and their families, and gave a formal apology in 2008.

In 2009, Looty Pijamini was commissioned by the Canadian Government to design a monument in memory of the relocation. Depicting a sad-looking woman with a young boy and a husky, the monument was unveiled by John Duncan, Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development and Federal Interlocutor for Métis and Non-Status Indians, on September 10, 2010.

Telephone network

File:Grise Fiord Church.jpg

Church in Grise Fiord

In 1970, Bell Canada established what was then the world's most northerly telephone exchange (operated since 1992 by Northwestel).

Naming

Grise Fiord means "pig inlet" in Norwegian and was named by Otto Sverdrup from Norway during an expedition around 1900. He thought the walrus in the area sounded like pigs. Grise Fiord's Inuktitut name is Aujuittuq which means "place that never thaws."

See also

• Northernmost settlements
• Florin Fodor

Other settlements on Ellesmere Island

• Alert, Nunavut
• Eureka, Nunavut

External links

• http://www.arcticco-op.com/acl-baffin-region-grise-fiord.htm
• CBC News documentary about Grise Fiord that aired in 2008
• http://www.nunavuttourism.com/explore/index.aspx?l=0,2,4,10,39
• http://www.arcticcircle.ca/Baffin/Grise/
• http://mailhub.edu.nu.ca/qikiqtani/orientation/GriseFiord.html