Somerset Island and Fort Ross

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Satellite photo montage of Somerset Island and its neighbours

Not to be confused with Somerset Island, Bermuda.

Somerset Island ([73°15′N 93°30′W]) is a large island lying off the Boothia Peninsula in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. It has an area of 9,570 square miles (24,786 km²), making it the 45th largest island in the world and Canada's twelfth largest island. It is uninhabited.

Around 1000 AD, the north coast of Somerset Island was inhabited by the Thule people, as evidenced by whale bones, tunnels and stone ruins. In late 1848, James Clark Ross, commanding two ships, landed at Port Leopold on the northeast coast to winter. In April the following year he launched an exploration of the island by sledge.

In 1937, the Fort Ross trading post ([72°0′0″N, 94°13′59″W]) was established by the Hudson's Bay Company at the southeastern end of the island. Only eleven years later, however, it was closed, as the severe ice conditions rendered it uneconomical and difficult to access. This left the island uninhabited. The former store and manager's house are still used as shelters by Inuit caribou hunters from Taloyoak.

Due to the ruins, the wildlife and its easy access from Resolute, the northern coast of the island has become a popular tourist destination.

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