CanadaCanadian Arctic ArchipelagoIsland
Baffin Island
507,451 km² rising to 2,147 m out of the Baffin Bay.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
507,451km²
Area
20,984km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
2,147m
Highest point
Mount Odin
13,148
People
2°C
Warmest sea
August
122km
To the mainland
When to go to Baffin Island
Good all year round.
The sea is warmest in August (2 °C) and coolest in February (-2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Largest Arctic island in Nunavut, Canada
Baffin Island is an island in Canada. It belongs to Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It covers 507,451 km², with 20,984 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Odin, rises to 2,147 m. About 13,148 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 122 km away.
Getting there
- Iqaluit Airport (YFB)airport on the island, with scheduled flightsCar hire in IqaluitDiscover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 122 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Baffin Island.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Baffin Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Baffin Island, each with its own numbers.
10beaches and covesCoastya
206lakesLakeyas
1waterfallCascadyas
Largest lake
4,873km²
Nettilling Lake
132 m deep · according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
14.8°C
Kavivau Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
3.2°C
Observation Cove
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
10 beaches
on Coastya, the beach atlas
- Blackout Beach2.7°C
- Eagle Beach3.0°C
- Gammarus Covecove1.6°C
- Iqaijuq Covecove3.1°C
- Observation Covecove3.2°C
- Gold Covecove2.2°C
- Royer Covecove1.4°C
- Umiartalik Covecove0.8°C
2 more on CoastyaOpen Coastya ↗
206 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Nettilling Lake132 m deep4,873km²
- Amadjuak Lake2,995km²
- Erichsen Lake351km²
- Bieler Lake323km²
- Minnguq226km²
- Angijurjuk205km²
- Neergaard Lake166km²
- Lake Gillian132km²
198 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
1 waterfalls
on Cascadyas, the waterfall atlas
- Schwartzenbach Falls
Cascadyas is coming soonOpen Cascadyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Iqaluit7,429 people
- Pangnirtung1,504 people
- Clyde River1,181 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -28 | -27 | -21 | -12 | -3 | 4 | 11 | 9 | 1 | -7 | -16 | -23 |
| Night low (°C) | -34 | -34 | -30 | -21 | -10 | -1 | 4 | 2 | -4 | -13 | -22 | -29 |
| Sea (°C) | -1 | -2 | -2 | -1 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -1 |
| Rain (mm) | 17 | 12 | 22 | 30 | 52 | 74 | 85 | 85 | 62 | 60 | 38 | 25 |
| Wet days | 5 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 14 | 14 | 10 | 8 |
| Sun h/day | 1.0 | 4.1 | 9.6 | 13.6 | 15.0 | 12.0 | 9.0 | 6.6 | 5.0 | 2.7 | 1.2 | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 18 | 18 | 18 | 19 | 19 | 18 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 18 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.6 | −0.3 | +0.5 | +0.8 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.3 |
| 2021 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.6 | −0.7 | −0.4 | −0.3 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.2 |
| 2022 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.7 | +0.6 | +0.7 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −0.3 |
| 2023 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.6 | −0.9 | +0.1 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.1 | −0.2 |
| 2024 | −0.2 | −0.1 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.5 | −0.8 | +0.6 | +0.9 | +1.3 | +0.2 | −0.2 |
| 2025 | −0.2 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.2 | −0.3 | −0.2 | +1.2 | +0.3 | +0.4 | +0.2 | −0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q81178) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | Natural Earth · public domain |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Coastya, Lakeyas, Cascadyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; NOAA OISST; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
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