View source for Banks Island

{{Short description|Inhabited island in the Northwest Territories, Canada}}
{{about|the island in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago|the island in British Columbia|Banks Island (British Columbia)|the group of islands in northern Vanuatu|Banks Islands}}
{{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}}
{{Infobox islands
| name = Banks Island
| image_name = Canada2.A2002165.1940.250m.jpg
| image_caption = These moderate resolution imaging spectroradiometer images from June 14 and 16, 2002, show Banks Island (centre left) and the larger Victoria Island (to the immediate southeast)
| image_size =
| map_image= Banks Island, Canada.svg
| native_name =
| native_name_link =
| nickname =
| location = [[Beaufort Sea]]
| pushpin_map             = Canada Northwest Territories#Canada
| pushpin_label           = 
| pushpin_label_position  = 
| pushpin_map_alt         = 
| pushpin_relief          = 1
| pushpin_map_caption     = 
| coordinates = {{coord|72|45|02|N|121|30|10|W|region:CA-NT_type:isle_scale:5000000|notes=<ref>{{Cite cgndb|LACAR|name=Banks Island}}</ref>|display=inline,title|name=Banks Island}}
| archipelago = [[Arctic Archipelago]]
| total_islands =
| major_islands =
| area_km2 = 70028
| rank = 24th
| length_km = 380
| width_km = 290
| highest_mount = Durham Heights
| elevation_m = 730
| country = Canada
| country_admin_divisions_title = Territory
| country_admin_divisions = Northwest Territories
| country_admin_divisions_title_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_1 =
| country_admin_divisions_title_2 =
| country_admin_divisions_2 =
| country_largest_city = [[Sachs Harbour]]
| country_largest_city_population = 103
| population = 103
| population_as_of = 2016<ref name="2016census"/>
| density_km2 = 0.0016
| ethnic_groups =
| additional_info =
}}

'''Banks Island''' is one of the larger members of the [[Arctic Archipelago]]. Situated in the [[Inuvik Region]], and part of the [[Inuvialuit Settlement Region]], of the [[Northwest Territories]], it is separated from [[Victoria Island (Canada)|Victoria Island]] to its east by the [[Prince of Wales Strait]] and from the mainland by [[Amundsen Gulf]] to its south. The [[Beaufort Sea]] lies to its west, and to its northeast [[M'Clure Strait]] separates the island from [[Prince Patrick Island]] and [[Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut)|Melville Island]].

It is home to at least fourteen mammal species including the [[Peary caribou]], [[barren-ground caribou]], and [[polar bears]]. At one time over 68,000 [[muskox]]en lived on the island, the majority of the world's population. However, the bacterium ''[[Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae]]'' has led to a sharp decline in their numbers. The island is the summer home to hundreds of thousands of migratory birds who nest at  Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 1 and Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 2.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/banks-island-number-1.html |title=Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 1 |date=2022-06-03 |publisher=[[Environment and Climate Change Canada]]}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/environment-climate-change/services/migratory-bird-sanctuaries/locations/banks-island-number-2.html |title=Banks Island Migratory Bird Sanctuary No. 2 |date=2019-11-14 |publisher=[[Environment and Climate Change Canada]]}}</ref>

As of the 2016 census it had a human population of 103, all in [[Sachs Harbour]].<ref name="2016census">{{cite web |url=https://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=6101041&Geo2=PR&Code2=61&Data=Count&SearchText=Sachs%20Harbour&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&B1=All&GeoLevel=PR&GeoCode=6101041&TABID=1 |title=Census Profile, 2016 Census Sachs Harbour, Hamlet [Census subdivision], Northwest Territories and Northwest Territories [Territory]|work=[[Canada 2016 Census|2016 Census]] |publisher=Statistics Canada}}</ref>

== Human settlements and discoveries ==
[[File:BanksIslandCloseup.png|thumb|left|Closer look at Banks Island]]
[[File:Banks_topo.png|thumb|left|Topography of Banks Island]]
[[Pre-Dorset]] cultural sites have been found that date from approximately 1500 BCE but European contact came much later. In 1820 it was seen from [[Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut)|Melville Island]] by Sir [[William Edward Parry]] and named "Banks Land" in honour of Sir [[Joseph Banks]]. However, during the later exploration of the area by the [[McClure Arctic Expedition]] the island was marked on their maps as "Baring Island".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ve.tpl.toronto.on.ca/frozen_ocean/map_cresswell_chart.htm |title=Frozen Ocean Search for the North-West Passage |publisher=Ve.tpl.toronto.on.ca |access-date=2012-05-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120205234349/http://ve.tpl.toronto.on.ca/frozen_ocean/map_cresswell_chart.htm |archive-date=2012-02-05 }}</ref> McClure's ship, {{HMS|Investigator|1848|6}}, was frozen in Prince of Wales Strait. That spring he sent out sledging parties and determined that Banks Island was an island. In the following year he almost circumnavigated the island but was again frozen in at [[Mercy Bay]] where he and his crew spent the next three months before making their escape across the ice.<ref name=Armstrong1>{{cite book |title=A Personal Narrative of the Discovery of the Northwest Passage|last=Armstrong |first=Alexander |author-link=Sir Alexander Armstrong |year=1857 |publisher=Hurst and Blackett |location=London |url=https://archive.org/details/apersonalnarrat00armsgoog
|access-date=2010-04-07}}</ref>

The only permanent settlement on the island is the [[Inuvialuit]] hamlet of [[Sachs Harbour]] (Ikahuak), on the southwest coast.

==Description==
Banks Island covers an area {{convert|70028|km2|abbr=on}} and it is the [[List of islands by area|world's 24th largest island]] and [[List of Canadian islands by area|Canada's fifth largest island]]. It is about {{convert|380|km|abbr=on}} long, and at its widest point at the northern end, {{convert|290|km|abbr=on}} across. The highest point of the island is in the south, Durham Heights and rises to about {{convert|730|m|abbr=on}}.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|author=James Harley Marsh|author-link=James Harley Marsh|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/banks-island|title=Banks Island|encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]]|date=March 4, 2015|access-date=September 11, 2019}}</ref>

==Ecology==
The island is treeless, with the tallest plant, the [[Salix arctica|Arctic willow]], growing occasionally to about the height of a person's knee but usually standing no taller than {{convert|10|cm|abbr=on}}.

Banks Island is home to a large colony of lesser [[snow goose|snow geese]], which make their way across the Amundsen Gulf from the mainland. There is an annual goose hunt in the spring out of Sachs Harbour. The island is part of the [[tundra]] world [[biome]], which has extremely cold winters. The island is home to [[barren-ground caribou]], [[polar bear]]s, [[muskox]]en, and birds, including year round residents the [[common raven]] and [[Lagopus|ptarmigan]].

Two federal [[List of Migratory Bird Sanctuaries of Canada|migratory bird sanctuaries]] were founded on the island in 1961.

[[Aulavik National Park]] of Canada, a fly-in park, protects about {{convert|12274|km2|abbr=on}} of [[Arctic]] lowlands at the northern end of the island.<ref name="Parks_Canada" /> The park has the highest concentration of muskoxen on earth, and is home to the endangered [[Peary caribou]].<ref name="Parks_Canada" /> The [[Thomsen River]] runs through the park, and is the northernmost navigable river (by [[canoe]]) in [[North America]]. [[Rock ptarmigan|Ptarmigan]] and [[raven]]s are considered the only year-round birds in the park, although 43 species make seasonal use of the area. In [[Inuvialuktun]], ''Aulavik'' means "place where people travel" and the "wildlife and land have supported aboriginal peoples for more than 3,400 years, from Pre-Dorset cultures to contemporary Inuvialuit."<ref name="Parks_Canada">{{citation|url=http://www.pc.gc.ca/eng/pn-np/nt/aulavik/index.aspx |title=Aulavik National Park of Canada |work=Parks Canada |date=16 January 2014 |access-date=1 November 2014}}</ref>

The first confirmed [[grizzly–polar bear hybrid]] found in the wild was shot on Banks Island in April 2006, near Sachs Harbour.

==Climate==
Banks Island has a [[tundra climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Köppen]] ''ET'') typical of the Canadian Arctic with long, cold winters and short, cool summers. Since the activities of many residents of the community revolve around fishing, hunting, and travel, many residents have considerable knowledge of weather conditions, [[permafrost]], and even [[erosion]] patterns.
<div style="width:75%">
{{Sachs Harbour weatherbox}}
</div>

==HMS ''Investigator''==
[[File:Nlc hms investigator.jpg|thumb|[[HMS Investigator (1848)|HMS ''Investigator'']], Baring Island, August 1851]]
In July 2010, [[Parks Canada]] [[archaeologist]]s looking for {{HMS|Investigator|1848|6}} found it 15 minutes after they started a [[sonar]] scan of Banks Island's [[Mercy Bay]]. The archaeology crew had no plans to raise the ship. They planned to conduct a thorough sonar scan of the area, then send a [[remotely operated vehicle]].<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/abandoned-1854-ship-found-in-arctic-1.911131?ref=rss | title=Abandoned 1854 ship found in Arctic | publisher=[[CBC News]] | date=July 29, 2010 | access-date=February 26, 2012}}</ref>

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* Canada. ''Banks Island, a Natural Area of Canadian Significance''. Natural area of Canadian significance. Ottawa: Parks Canada, 1978.
* {{cite journal |last1=Cotter |first1=R. C. |first2=J. E. |last2=Hines |date=2001 |title=Breeding Biology of Brant on Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada |journal=[[Arctic (journal)|Arctic]] |volume=54 |issue=4 |pages=357–366 |url=https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/arctic/article/view/63850/47785 |doi=10.14430/arctic793 |jstor=40512392|url-access=subscription }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Gajewski |first1=K |first2=R |last2=Mott |first3=J |last3=Ritchie |first4=K |last4=Hadden |date=April 2000 |title=Holocene Vegetation History of Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada |journal=[[Canadian Journal of Botany]] |volume=78 |issue=4 |pages=430–436 |doi=10.1139/b00-018}}
* {{cite journal |last=Holyoak |first=D.T. |title=Notes on the Birds of Southwestern Banks Island, Northwest Territories, Canada |journal=Bulletin of the British Ornithologists' Club |volume=103 |issue=2 |date=June 1983 |url=https://ia601501.us.archive.org/29/items/biostor-112463/biostor-112463.pdf}}
* {{cite book |last1=Manning |first1=T.H. |first2=E.O. |last2=Höhn |first3=A.H. |last3=Macpherson |title=The Birds of Banks Island |date=1956}}
* Stephens, L. E., L. W. Sobczak, and E. S. Wainwright. ''Gravity Measurements on Banks Island, N.W.T''. Gravity map series, no. 150. Ottawa: Dept. of Energy, Mines and Resources, Earth Physics Branch, 1972.
* {{cite report |last=Stephenson |first=S.A. |date=2010 |title=Fishes of the Thomsen River, Banks Island, Northwest Territories. Canada |series=Canadian manuscript report of fisheries and aquatic sciences |id=0706-6473 No. 2944}}
* {{cite journal |last=Struzik |first=Ed |date=2000 |title=And Then There Were 84,000 – The Return of Musk-Oxen to Canada's Banks Island in Recent Decades Is Just One Chapter of a Beguiling Arctic Mystery |journal=International Wildlife |volume=30 |issue=1 |page=28 |url=https://www.nwf.org/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2000/And-Then-There-Were-84000}}
* Will, Richard T. ''Utilization of Banks Island Muskoxen by Nineteenth Century Copper Inuit''. [S.l.]: Boreal Institute for Northern Studies, 1983.
{{refend}}

==External links==
* [http://www.uscg.mil/pacarea/healy/deployments/AEWS03/Northwest%20Passage/Historical%20Guide/Historical%20Guide.htm Historical sites of the Northwest Passage]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20070303230704/http://ve.tpl.toronto.on.ca/frozen_ocean/map_inglefield_1853.htm Chart of the Northwest Passage]
* [http://www.civilization.ca/hist/cae/exp36be.html Banks Island at civilization.ca]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140106181859/http://www.pwnhc.ca/exhibits/staffpicks/lagoon-index.asp Banks Island Archaeological Site] Early Dorset artifacts collected by the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre, Northwest Territories, Canada.

{{Beaufort Sea Islands}}
{{World's largest islands}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Banks Island| ]]
[[Category:Islands of the Northwest Territories]]
[[Category:Inhabited islands of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago]]
[[Category:Islands of the Beaufort Sea]]