Canada
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2017 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
70,028km²
Area
1,467km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
122
People
1°C
Warmest sea
August
92km
To the mainland
When to go to Banks Island
Best to visit from December to April.
The sea is warmest in August (1 °C) and coolest in January (-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.
Island in the Northwest Territories, Canada
Banks Island is an island in Canada. It belongs to Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It covers 70,028 km², with 1,467 km of coastline. About 122 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 92 km away.
Getting there
- 92 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on Banks Island.
This island is too large to count beaches and viewpoints in a meaningful way.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Banks Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Banks Island, each with its own numbers.
2beaches and covesCoastya
21lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
12.4km²
Middle Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
11.5°C
Burnt Tent Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
Beach with the warmest sea
3.5°C
Seal Camp Beach
sea in the warmest month · according to Coastya
21 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Middle Lake12.4km²
- Twenty-Five Minute Lake8.7km²
- Raddi Lake7.4km²
- Fish Lake6.5km²
- Capron Lake5.7km²
- Kuptan Lake5.3km²
- Shoran Lake4.3km²
- Nangmagvik Lake3.9km²
13 more on LakeyasLakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
500 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -29 | -28 | -24 | -13 | -3 | 7 | 11 | 7 | 0 | -12 | -22 | -27 |
| Night low (°C) | -35 | -34 | -32 | -22 | -9 | 1 | 4 | 1 | -5 | -16 | -27 | -32 |
| Sea (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 12 | 9 | 11 | 15 | 22 | 31 | 46 | 43 | 38 | 25 | 15 | 14 |
| Wet days | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 9 | 11 | 13 | 10 | 6 | 4 | 3 |
| Sun h/day | — | 3.2 | 8.0 | 13.4 | 14.5 | 10.9 | 8.1 | 4.8 | 2.2 | 1.7 | 2.0 | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
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 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −1.1 | −1.3 | −0.9 | −0.9 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.2 |
| 2021 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −1.1 | −1.4 | −1.2 | −0.6 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.2 |
| 2022 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −1.1 | −1.8 | −1.1 | +0.3 | −0.1 | ±0.0 | +0.2 |
| 2023 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.2 | −1.1 | +1.1 | +2.5 | +0.5 | +1.0 | +0.1 | +0.2 |
| 2024 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.3 | −0.5 | +0.4 | +1.2 | +1.9 | +1.9 | +0.4 | +0.2 |
| 2025 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | +0.2 | −0.2 | −1.0 | −1.1 | −0.5 | −0.3 | ±0.0 | +0.2 | +0.3 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q200226) · 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 — 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.
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