![]() Stefansson Island and surrounding area | |
Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Viscount Melville Sound |
Coordinates | 73°20′N 105°45′W / 73.333°N 105.750°W[1] |
Archipelago | Arctic Archipelago |
Area | 4,463 km2 (1,723 sq mi)[2] |
Highest elevation | 256 m (840 ft)[2] |
Highest point | unnamed |
Administration | |
Canada | |
Territory | Nunavut |
Region | Kitikmeot |
Demographics | |
Population | 0 |
Stefansson Island is an uninhabited island in the Arctic Archipelago in the Kitikmeot Region of Nunavut, Canada. It has a total area of 4,463 km2 (1,723 sq mi), making it the 128th largest island in the world, and Canada's 27th largest island. The island is located in Viscount Melville Sound, with M'Clintock Channel to the east. It lies just off Victoria Island's Storkerson Peninsula, separated by the Goldsmith Channel. Stefansson Island's highest mount is 256 m (840 ft).[2] A weather station, at 73°45′56″N 105°17′44″W / 73.76556°N 105.29556°W, is located on the northern part of the island as part of an automated weather station array operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada in the Arctic.[3] The first European sighting of the island was in 1917 by Storker T. Storkerson who was travelling with Canadian explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson (1879-1962), for whom the island was named.[4]