Banks Island

Banks Island is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Situated in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, it is separated from 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.

It is home to barren-ground caribou, polar bears, and birds such as robins and swallows. Over 68,000 muskoxen also live on the island, the majority of the world's population, but at the census in 2011 it had a human population of just 112, all in Sachs Harbour.

European discovery

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 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". McClure's ship, the HMS Investigator, 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 before making their escape across the ice.

Banks Island (British Columbia)

Banks Island (Haida: Ḵaa'al ) is an island on the coast of the Canadian province of British Columbia. It is located south of Prince Rupert, on Hecate Strait, east of and opposite the Queen Charlotte Islands. To the east of Banks Island is Pitt Island and McCauley Island, both across Principe Channel. To the south lies the archipelago of the Estevan Group, beyond which is Caamaño Sound.

Banks Island is 72 kilometres (45 mi) long and ranges in width from 9.7 kilometres (6.0 mi) to 18 kilometres (11 mi). It is 1,005 square kilometres (388 sq mi) in area. The island reaches 536 metres (1,759 ft) in elevation. It is located within the Skeena-Queen Charlotte Regional District.

Banks Island was named in 1788 by Charles Duncan, captain of the fur trading vessel Princess Royal, in honor of Sir Joseph Banks, who was then president of the Royal Society and had accompanied James Cook during the exploratory voyages of 1768–1771. Banks was instrumental in encouraging British fur trading voyages to the Pacific Northwest, such as Duncan's.