Keewatin

Eastern district of the Canadian territory of Nunavut including the islands in Hudson and James bays; area 590,935 sq km/228,160 sq mi; population (2001 est) 7,600. Towns and cities in the district include Chesterfield Inlet, Rankin Inlet, Arviat, Baker Lake, and Coral Harbour (which was the site of an air base during World War II). The district is part of the Canadian Shield upland plateau in the north, the south being low and level, covering the greater part of the Arctic prairies of Canada. The area was heavily glaciated in the Ice ages and features numerous lakes and tundra vegetation. The major industry is furs, with trapping the main occupation. Subsistence hunting, especially for caribou, remains important to many of the Inuit, who make up the considerable majority of Keewatin's population. Only Rankin Inlet has a significant number of non-aboriginal people.

Keewatin District was formed in 1876, under the administration of Manitoba; it was transferred to Northwest Territories in 1905, and in 1912 lost land south of 60° N to Manitoba and Ontario. The district became part of Nunavut upon the territory's creation in 1999. There are mineral reserves but only two nickel mines have ever operated and both have closed. The potential extraction of uranium is a contentious issue here.