Boothia Peninsula

Geographical location

( Called Boothia Peninsula english, originally Boothia Felix ) Boothia Peninsula is the northernmost of the Canadian mainland (up to 71 ° 18 ' north latitude ). The North Cape Peninsula, Cape Rennell, is the northernmost point of the North American continent ( excluding islands ). The peninsula has an area of ​​about 50,000 km ² and 809 inhabitants (mostly Inuit ). The capital and only town is Taloyoak (formerly Spence Bay). In 1948, 60 km further north founded Ikpik ( Thom Bay ), but left soon after. Boothia is composed mainly of Precambrian rocks and up to 573 m high; the east and west flat tundra, frost rubble and rock surfaces are predominant. The peninsula was from 1829 to 1833 by John Ross discovered, who named it after his friend Felix Booth ( 1775-1850 ), who had given the funds for the expedition. On Boothia Felix the magnetic pole in the northern hemisphere was found in 1831 by James Clark Ross, who quickly moves toward Siberia since 1990 and 2007 have reached almost 84 ° north latitude.

The only two kilometers wide Bellotstraße separates the peninsula from the adjacent island in the North Somerset Iceland. In the south of the peninsula lies its narrowest point - the Boothia Isthmus. To the east lies the Gulf of Boothia, west lie the Franklin Strait, the McClintock Channel, the James Ross Strait, and St. Roch Basin, Rae Strait and Rasmussen Basin.