The Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is the sea route across the northern Canadian Archipelago joining the Pacific Ocean and the North Atlantic. For centuries European explorers had sought a way through the ice in search of a shorter route to the East. Many lives were sacrificed in the search until Roald Amundsen succeeded between 1903-1906 on board the Gjoa.

The shrinking of the Arctic sea ice and advances in modern vessels has made the route increasingly accessible. Alongside the expedition ships carrying adventurers are a handful of commercial vessels cutting 2,500 miles off their journey, saving precious time and fuel, and serving the remote communities dotted through the region.

Evidence suggests that humans first entered this region some 12,000 years ago, following big game across a land bridge that has now become the Bering Strait. The first archaeological remains of an established culture appeared 5,000 years ago with the Paleoeskimos, followed by the Dorset culture 2,500 years later who developed marine hunting techniques. Between 1,200 and 500 years ago the Thule began to build whalebone and sod houses, the remains of which you can still see today.

The Thule period also saw the first impact of an alien culture on the region. As the Vikings expanded their territory, artefacts suggest trade links were soon established with the Norsemen who settled in Greenland.

More recently the Northwest Passage became infamous as explorers tried and failed for centuries to find a way through the ice. To read more follow the link to our history page.

The landscape surrounding the Northwest Passage consists almost entirely of low lying islands covered in tundra. There are no trees, just dwarf shrubs, forbs and sedges, as well as grasses. The number of plant species decreases in number and height the further north you go.

The land is bisected by a vast labyrinth of winding waterways, some of which are large enough to qualify as seas. There are 94 major islands (Baffin Island, the biggest, is larger than the UK) and 36,469 minor islands. With just a few isolated settlements such as Pond Inlet, Kuglutuk, Kugaaruk, Cambridge Bay, Resolute and Gjoa Haven the population totals just 36,000 people scattered over an area almost the size of Mexico.