Cambridge Bay

Cambridge Bay Iqaluktuuttiaq
Hamlet
Aerial view of Cambridge Bay looking north
Cambridge Bay, Nunavut, Canada.   Nunavut   Northwest Territories   Quebec
Country	Canada
Territory	Nunavut
Region	Kitikmeot Region
Settled	1921
Incorporated (hamlet)	1 April 1984
Government
• Mayor	Michelle Gillis
• Senior Administrative Officer	Bill Buckle
Area
• Hamlet	202.20 km2 (78.07 sq mi)
• Urban	0.49 km2 (0.19 sq mi)
Highest elevation	183 m (600 ft)
Lowest elevation	0 m (0 ft)
Population  (2006)
• Hamlet	1,477
• Density	7.3/km2 (19/sq mi)
• Urban	1,147
• Urban density	2,340.82/km2 (6,062.7/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC-7 (Mountain)
• Summer (DST)	UTC-6 (MDT)
Canadian Postal code	X0B 0C0
Area code	867
Telephone Exchange	983
GNBC Code	CAPHL
NTS Map	011D12
Website	Official site

Cambridge Bay (Inuinnaqtun: Iqaluktuuttiaq Inuktitut: ᐃᖃᓗᒃᑑᑦᑎᐊᖅ) (2006 population 1,477; UA population 1,147) named for Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge, is a hamlet located in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. The traditional Inuinnaqtun name for the area is Ikaluktuutiak (old orthography) or Iqaluktuttiaq (new orthography) meaning "good fishing place"; The 2008 Rand McNally Road Atlas shows a new name of Ikaluktutiak, but the name has not been officially changed.

The traditional language of the area was Inuinnaqtun and is written using the Latin alphabet rather than the syllabics of the Inuktitut writing system. Like Kugluktuk, Bathurst Inlet and Umingmaktok syllabics are rarely seen and used mainly by the Government of Nunavut.

Location and population

Located on the south coast of Victoria Island Cambridge Bay is a transportation and administrative center for the western Kitikmeot Region. As of the 2006 census the population was 1,477 an increase of 12.8% from the 2001 census. The population is approximately 80% Inuit. It is a normal stop for passenger and research vessels traversing the Northwest Passage.

The area was a traditional hunting and fishing location and archeological sites are often found. Barren-ground caribou, muskox, Arctic char, lake trout and ringed seal were the primary and remain important food sources today. Situated east of Cambridge Bay is Ovayok Territorial Park.

History

Cambridge Bay was the site of Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) and Hudson's Bay Company outposts established during the 1920s. Following World War II a LORAN tower was built near the previous location of Cambridge Bay and a DEW Line site established in 1955. Unlike the majority of the DEW Line radar sites which were abandoned or automated, this site, known as CAM-MAIN, remains a manned operation. The military presence and the services and economy this represented acted as a magnet for Inuit who had previously used the area as a temporary site for meeting, hunting, fishing and trade, and a permanent community was soon established.

The Kitikmeot Inuit Association, Nunavut Impact Review Board, and Nunavut Planning Commission have their head offices in Cambridge Bay, as well as the Lands and Resources Department of Nunavut Tunngavik Incorporated.

During his campaign for the January 2006 Canadian federal election, Conservative Party leader Stephen Harper unveiled an Arctic Defence plan which would establish a permanent Arctic training school near Cambridge Bay. In August 2007, Harper announced that the training base would be in Resolute Bay, Nunavut.

Cambridge Bay has northern historical significance. It is the final resting place of the Baymaud captained by Roald Amundsen.

Media

Radio

In addition to a community radio station, Cambridge Bay is served by two CBC Radio One transmitters, rebroadcasting the stations from both Iqaluit and Inuvik, Northwest Territories.

• FM 97.7 - CFBI, community radio
• FM 101.9 - CFFB-1, CBC Radio One
• FM 105.1 - CBIN, CBC Radio One

Television

• Channel 9 - CBENT, CBC North

Internet Services

• QINIQ, Broadband Internet service provider for Nunavut
• Polarnet, Internet Service provider for the Kitikmeot region
• Netkaster, satellite Internet service provided by Northwestel

Climate

Climate data for Cambridge Bay Airport
Month	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec	Year
Source: Enviroment Canada

• Template:Fnb Sun below the horizon, polar night, from 30 November to 11 January and above the horizon, midnight sun, 19 May to 22 June.

See also

• Cambridge Bay Airport
• Cambridge Bay Water Aerodrome

Further reading

• 2007. "Mosaic - Snow Sprints in Cambridge Bay, Nunavut - Photography by Finn O'Hara". Canadian Geographic. 127, no. 2: 100.
• Barlishen, W. J., and T. N. Webber. A History of the Development of Commercial Fishing in the Cambridge Bay Area of the Northwest Territories. 1973.
• Canada. Cambridge Bay. Ottawa: Environment Canada, Atmospheric Environment Service, 1984. ISBN 066052564X
• Canada Centre for Mineral and Energy Technology, and Resource Ventures Incorporated. Cambridge Bay Wind Farm. [Ottawa]: The Branch, 1997.
• Gajda, Roman. Terrain and Site Analysis of Cambridge Bay, N.W.T. Ottawa: Dept. of Mines and Technical Surveys, Geographical Branch, 1962.
• Hill, Steven Grant. Ethnography of Inuit Elderly in a Present Day Arctic Settlement, Cambridge Bay, N.W.T. Ottawa: National Library of Canada, 1990. ISBN 0315515651

External links

• Official site
• Images of Cambridge Bay Youth