Baffin Island

Baffin Island is in the Canadian territory of Nunavut, situated across the entrance to Hudson Bay.

At about 1600 km (about 1000 mi) long and an area of 507,451 sq km (195,928 sq mi), Baffin Island is the fifth-largest island in the world. It has an estimated population of 13,148 (2016), mainly Inuit (Eskimo).

Baffin Island

It is likely that the island was known to the Norse of Greenland and Iceland prior to Christopher Columbus's discovery of America.

The English explorer Martin Frobisher created a gold metal in England in 1578 when he returned from Baffin Island with 200 tons of what he though was glittering gold ore. It turned out the ore was merely iron pyrite (“fool’s gold”). It was eventually crushed and used for road repair.

The island is named after English explorer and navigator William Baffin, who was pilot on several expeditions in search of the Northwest Passage. He was amongst the first Europeans to find Baffin Bay in 1615.

Baffin Island has an arctic climate, is treeless, and has many freshwater lakes. 

The east coast is deeply indented, with many fjords. The central interior is dominated by ice-capped mountains rising to 2057 m (6750 ft). 

The eastern community of Clyde River has twilight instead of night from April 26 until May 13, continuous sunlight for 2½ months from May 14 to July 28, then twilight instead of night from July 29 until August 16. This gives the community just over 3½ months without true night.

Mount Thor, located in Auyuittuq National Park on Baffin Island is famous for its vertical drop of 4,101 feet (1,250 meters) and is considered to have the greatest sheer vertical drop on Earth. It's a popular destination for experienced rock climbers who come to challenge themselves on the world's highest sheer cliff face.

Baffin Island is becoming popular amongst the BASE jumping community as a hotspot due to a wide array of 3,000 to 3,900 ft tall cliffs scattered around the island.