Arctic Archipelago in the context of "Archipelago"

Greenland is an autonomous territory in the Kingdom of Denmark. It is by far the largest geographically of three constituent parts of the kingdom; the other two are metropolitan Denmark and the Faroe Islands. It shares a small 1.2 km border with Canada on Hans Island. Citizens of Greenland are full citizens of Denmark and of the European Union. Greenland is one of the Overseas Countries and Territories of the European Union and is part of the Council of Europe. It is the world's largest island, and lies between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland's Kaffeklubben Island, off the northern coast, is the world's northernmost undisputed point of land—Cape Morris Jesup on the mainland was thought to be so until the 1960s. The capital and largest city is Nuuk. Economically, Greenland is heavily reliant on aid from Denmark, amounting to nearly half of the territory's total public revenue.

Though a part of the continent of North America, Greenland has been politically and culturally associated with the European kingdoms of Norway and Denmark for more than a millennium, beginning in 986. Greenland has been inhabited at intervals over at least the last 4,500 years by circumpolar peoples whose forebears migrated there from what is now Canada. Norsemen from Norway settled the uninhabited southern part of Greenland beginning in the 10th century (having previously settled Iceland), and their descendants lived in Greenland for 400 years until disappearing in the late 15th century. The 13th century saw the arrival of Inuit.

Canada has a vast geography that occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing a land border with the contiguous United States to the south and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Greenland is to the northeast with a shared border on Hans Island. To the southeast Canada shares a maritime boundary with France's overseas collectivity of Saint Pierre and Miquelon, the last vestige of New France. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the world's largest proportion of fresh water lakes. Of Canada's thirteen provinces and territories, only two are landlocked (Alberta and Saskatchewan) while the other eleven all directly border one of three oceans.

Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole. Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi); additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi). Three of Canada's Arctic islands, Baffin Island, Victoria Island and Ellesmere Island, are among the ten largest in the world.

The Northwest Territories is a federal territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 km (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it was the second-largest and the most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Its estimated population as of the third quarter of 2025 is 45,950 which would make it the second most populous of the three territories. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and the only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

The Northwest Territories, a portion of the old North-Western Territory, entered the Canadian Confederation on July 15, 1870. At first, it was named the North-West Territories. The name was changed to the present Northwest Territories in 1906. Since 1870, the territory has been divided four times to create new provinces and territories or enlarge existing ones. Its current borders date from April 1, 1999, when the territory's size was decreased again by the creation of a new territory of Nunavut to the east, through the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement. While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest (taiga) and tundra, and its most northern regions form part of the Arctic Archipelago.

Nunavut is the largest and northernmost territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act, which provided this territory to the Inuit for self-government. The boundaries had been drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map in half a century since the province of Newfoundland (now Newfoundland and Labrador) was admitted in 1949.

Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada and most of the Arctic Archipelago. Its vast territory makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision in the world, as well as North America's second-largest (after Greenland). The capital Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay"), on Baffin Island in the east, was chosen by a capital plebiscite in 1995. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay.

Ellesmere Island (Inuktitut: ᐅᒥᖕᒪᒃ ᓄᓇ, romanized: Umingmak Nuna, lit. 'land of muskoxen'; French: île d'Ellesmere) is Canada's northernmost and third largest island, and the tenth largest in the world. It comprises an area of 196,236 km (75,767 sq mi), slightly smaller than Great Britain, and the total length of the island is 830 km (520 mi).

Lying within the Arctic Archipelago, Ellesmere Island is considered part of the Queen Elizabeth Islands. Cape Columbia at 83°06′41″N 069°57′13″W / 83.11139°N 69.95361°W / 83.11139; -69.95361 (Cape Columbia) is the most northerly point of land in Canada and one of the most northern points of land on the planet (the most northerly point of land on Earth is the nearby Kaffeklubben Island of Greenland).

Victoria Island (Inuinnaqtun: Kitlineq) is a large island in the Arctic Archipelago that straddles the boundary between Nunavut and the Northwest Territories of Canada. It is the eighth-largest island in the world, and at 217,291 km (83,897 sq mi) in area, it is Canada's second-largest island. It is nearly double the size of Newfoundland (111,390 km [43,010 sq mi]), and is slightly larger than the island of Great Britain (209,331 km [80,823 sq mi]) but smaller than Honshu (225,800 km [87,200 sq mi]). The western third of the island lies in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories; the remainder is part of Nunavut's Kitikmeot Region. The population of 2,168 is divided between two settlements, the larger of which is Cambridge Bay (Nunavut) and the other Ulukhaktok (Northwest Territories).

The island is named after Queen Victoria, the Canadian sovereign from 1867 to 1901 (though she first became Queen in 1837). The features bearing the name "Prince Albert" are named after her consort, Albert.