Nunavik

Nunavik (Inuktitut: ᓄᓇᕕᒃ) comprises the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada in Kativik, part of the Nord-du-Québec region. Covering a land area of 443,684.71 km² (171,307.62 sq mi) north of the 55th parallel, it is the homeland of the Inuit of Quebec. Almost all of the 12,090 inhabitants (2011 census) of the region, of whom 90% are Inuit, live in fourteen northern villages on the coast of Nunavik and in the Cree reserved land (TC) of Whapmagoostui, near the northern village of Kuujjuarapik.

Nunavik means "great land" in the local dialect of Inuktitut and the Inuit inhabitants of the region call themselves Nunavimmiut. Until 1912, the region was part of the District of Ungava of the Northwest Territories.

Negotiations for regional autonomy and resolution of outstanding land claims took place in the 2000s. The seat of government would be Kuujjuaq. Negotiations on better empowering Inuit political rights in their land are still ongoing.

Geography

Nunavik is a vast territory, larger than the U.S. state of California, located in the northernmost part of Quebec. It lies in both the Arctic and subarctic climate zones. All together, about 12,000 people live in Nunavik's communities, and this number has been growing.

Nunavik (ship)

Nunavik is an icebreaking bulk carrier owned and operated by the Canadian shipping company Fednav. She is used to transport copper and nickel from the Nunavik Nickel Project, making 7–8 round trips per year.

Nunavik is a sister ship to the 2006-built Umiak I.

Construction and career

In October 2012, Fednav announced that it had signed a contract with Japan Marine United Corporation for the construction of a new ice-strengthened bulk carrier at the Tsu shipyard in Tsu, Japan. Previously, the company already operated two similar vessels with independent icebreaking capability: 1978-built Arctic and 2006-built Umiak I.

The keel of the new vessel was launched at the Japanese shipyard on 19 July 2013 and she was launched only two months later on 29 September. Initially set for delivery in December 2013, the new vessel, Nunavik, was completed on 30 January 2014. She is named after Nunavik, the area compromising the northern third of the province of Quebec, Canada.

Several commenters have noted that while it took only couple of years to build Nunavik in Japan, the design and construction of the new polar icebreaker, CCGS John G. Diefenbaker, for the Canadian Coast Guard on a Canadian shipyard will eventually take more than a decade.