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In 2003, the average prose literacy score for the Canadian population age 16 and over was 272 on a scale ranging from 0 to 500. Prose literacy is defined as the skills needed to understand and use information from texts. The average prose literacy scores were above the national average in the...

A drainage basin is the area that drains all precipitation into a river or stream system into a common outlet such as a lake or sea. There are two main river basins in Nunavut: the Thelon River flows into Hudson Bay and the Back River empties into the Arctic Ocean. Most of Nunavut’s area is not...

A geological province is an extensive region characterized by rocks and structures of varying types and ages. Canada has seventeen geological provinces consisting of a shield, platforms, orogens and continental shelves. Nunavut includes four of the geological provinces: Innuitian Orogen, Arctic...

Nunavut’s cold climate makes it a territory consisting of mostly barren land and permafrost. Permafrost is soil or rocks whose temperature remains at or below the freezing point for a long period of time. Glaciers, a mass of snow and ice that does not melt from year to year prevail in the...

Nunavut lies in the Arctic, where cold temperatures mean that snow can fall at anytime in the year. Typically the ground is snow covered from September until June. Most of Nunavut has a dry Arctic climate receiving less than 200 centimetres of snow annually.

Surficial Materials are unconsolidated earth deposits of various origins. This map shows the distribution of surficial materials in Nunavut, on land and in extensive offshore areas.

Ecozones are one of several levels of ecological regions that cover all of Canada. An ecozone is a discrete system, which has resulted from the mesh and interplay of geology, landform, soil, vegetation, climate, wildlife, water and human factors. Four of the fifteen terrestrial ecozones of Canada...

Canada may be divided into six broad Aboriginal cultural areas based on major geographic regions. Tribes in the same region share a greater number of cultural affinities than tribes from different regions. However only in the Arctic do the lines of geography, language and culture coincide so...

Nunavut’s 26 000 inhabitants live in 28 communities widely scattered across 2 million square kilometres. All communities are accessible by air and by sea. The Inuit have occupied the region for thousands of years and form almost 85 percent of the current population. Their language, Inuktitut is...

Outstanding rivers of natural, cultural historical, and recreational values are insured long-term management and conservation by the Canada Heritage Rivers System (CHRS). Three of Canada’s 28 Heritage Rivers flow in Nunavut: the Thelon, Kazan, and Soper rivers. These rivers reflect the physical...