Nunavik

 ( Inuit Territories ) 

Nunavik is separated from the territory of Nunavut by Hudson Bay to the west and Hudson Strait and Ungava Bay to the north. Nunavik shares a border with the Côte-Nord region of Quebec and the Labrador region of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador. The Ungava Peninsula forms the northern two-thirds of the region. There are no road links between Nunavik and southern Quebec, although the Trans-Taiga Road of the Jamésie region ends near the 55th parallel on the Caniapiscau Reservoir, several hundred kilometres south of Kuujjuaq. There is a year-round air link to all villages and seasonal shipping in the summer and autumn. Parts of the interior of southern Nunavik can be reached using several trails which head north from Schefferville.

Nunavik has fourteen villages, the vast majority of whose residents are Inuit. The principal village and administrative centre in Nunavik is Kuujjuaq, on the southern shore of Ungava Bay; the other villages are Inukjuak (where the film Nanook of the North was shot), Salluit, Puvirnituq, Ivujivik, Kangiqsujuaq, Kangiqsualujjuaq, Kangirsuk, Tasiujaq, Aupaluk, Akulivik, Quaqtaq, Kuujjuarapik and Umiujaq. The village population (census 2011) ranges from 2,375 (Kuujjuaq) to 195 (Aupaluk).

There are five meteorite craters in Nunavik: Pingualuit crater, Couture crater, La Moinerie crater and the two craters that together form the Clearwater Lakes.

Vegetation growth is limited in Nunavik, mostly consisting of shrubs, grasses, and mosses. Although tree growth in the tundra is scarce, some tree species such as the Salix arctica and Balsam Poplar are found in this region. Nunavik is also home to a variety of berry plants, including Cloudberry, Blueberry, Blackberry (Crowberry), and Cranberry (Redberry). Tree and shrub growth has been observed to be increasing in Nunavik in past years due to warming temperatures.

Furthermore, sea ice is thinning and decreasing in longevity through the winters. This creates more risky areas for transportation over the ice. There have also been lowering fresh water levels reported due to decreasing annual precipitation in the Arctic.

These changes are presenting potential threats to the health of communities and people that use water from natural sources. Lowering water quality in Nunavik can be associated with Gastrointestinal diseases, for example Giardiasis. Cases of Gastrointestinal diseases associated with natural sources were reported to increase in March when the sea ice begins breaking up, as well as in fall during the Caribou migration period.

Environmental levels of lead have also been changing in the Arctic with climatic shifts, presenting concerns for lead poisoning in northern communities. In Nunavik, Lead concentrations in maternal blood were the highest in Canada (50 μg/L). Increasing levels of lead in the environment are also associated with the use of the lead shot in hunting, which was banned in 1999 (although lead shots continue to be shipped to northern communities).

Because the site is situated in the subarctic permafrost region, it requires special construction and mining techniques to protect the fragile permafrost and to address other environmental issues. The average annual temperature is with an average ambient temperature underground of . There are plans to increase production at a new mine in Raglan South.

The Makivik Corporation, headquartered in Kuujjuaq, represents the Inuit of Northern Quebec in their relations with the governments of Quebec and Canada. They are seeking greater political autonomy for the region and have recently negotiated an agreement defining their traditional rights to use the resources of the offshore islands of Nunavik, all of which are part of Nunavut.

The Cree village of Whapmagoostui, which forms an enclave on the eastern shore of Hudson Bay near the northern village of Kuujjuarapik, is part of the Cree Regional Authority, which itself has been incorporated into the Grand Council of the Crees (Eeyou Istchee). The Naskapi Nation of Kawawachikamach, of the Côte-Nord region to the south of Nunavik, owns an exclusive hunting and trapping area in southern Nunavik and is represented in the Kativik Regional Government.

The government will be based on territory, not ethnicity so that all people residing in Nunavik can be full participants. Existing government structures, such as the Kativik Regional Government, Kativik School Board, and Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, will be folded into the new regional government.

The Quebec government has also expressed a desire to add an additional seat to the National Assembly to represent Nunavik, despite the region's small population. Currently, Nunavik is part of the riding of Ungava, its residents making up just under half of the riding's population. As a riding, Nunavik would be the second least populous in Quebec, slightly more populous than Îles-de-la-Madeleine, which is able to exist as a separate riding under an exception to the laws on population distribution by riding.Chouinard, Tommy. Les Inuits auront leur gouvernement régional. La Presse, 6 December 2007.

• Taqramiut Nipingat
• Tursujuq National Park
• List of proposed provinces and territories of Canada
• Nunatsiavut

• Chabot, Marcelle (2004). Consumption and Standards of Living of the Québec Inuit: Cultural Permanence and Discontinuities. Canadian review of sociology and anthropology,41 (2): 147–170.
• Chabot, M. (2003). Economic Changes, Household Strategies and Social Relations of Contemporary Nunavik Inuit. Polar Record 39(208): 19–34.
• Dana, Leo Paul 2010, “Nunavik, Arctic Quebec: Where Co-operatives Supplement Entrepreneurship,” Global Business and Economics Review 12 (1/2), January 2010, pp. 42–71.
• Greene, Deirdre, D. W. Doidge, and Ray Thompson. An Overview of Myticulture with Particular Reference to Its Potential in Nunavik. Kuujjuaq, Quebec: Kuujjuaq Research Centre, Makivik Corp, 1996.
• Hodgins, Stephen. Health and what affects it in Nunavik how is the situation changing? Kuujjuaq, Quebec: Nunavik Regional Board of Health and Social Services, 1997.
• Reeves, Randall R., and Stanislaw Christopher Olpinski. Walruses of Nunavik = Les morses du Nunavik. Kuujjuaq,: Makivik Corporation, 1995.
• Reeves, Randall R., and Stanislaw Christopher Olpinski. Belugas (white whales) in Nunavik = Les bélugas (baleines blanches) au Nunavik. Kuujjuaq,: Makivik Corporation, 1995.

• Kativik Regional Government website
• Nunavik Marine Region Planning Commission website
• Makivik Corporation