CanadaCanadian Arctic ArchipelagoIsland
King William Island
13,111 km² of land in the Northwest Passage.
Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
13,111km²
Area
804km
Coastline
measured on a simplified outline
292m
Highest point
Mount Matheson
1,064
People
1°C
Warmest sea
August
21km
To the mainland
When to go to King William Island
Good all year round.
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 Nunavut, Canada
King William Island is an island in Canada. It belongs to Canadian Arctic Archipelago. It covers 13,111 km², with 804 km of coastline. Its highest point, Mount Matheson, rises to 292 m. About 1,064 people live on it. The nearest mainland is 21 km away.
Getting there
- 21 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
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On the island
What you find on King William Island.
- 2,258beaches
- 1named peaksMount Matheson
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
King William Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside King William Island, each with its own numbers.
1mountainPeakyas
4lakesLakeyas
Largest lake
42.0km²
Tasekyoak Lake
according to Lakeyas
Warmest lake
12.0°C
Malerualik Lake
surface water, warmest month · according to Lakeyas
4 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Tasekyoak Lake42.0km²
- Koka Lake13.8km²
- Amitsoq Lake6.3km²
- Malerualik Lake4.5km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 37 m above the sea. 100 % of it is below 200 m.
- 69 %0–50 m
- 31 %50–200 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
100 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Towns on the island
- Gjoa Haven1,349 people
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -26 | -26 | -22 | -12 | -4 | 5 | 11 | 9 | 2 | -7 | -19 | -24 |
| Night low (°C) | -31 | -32 | -28 | -19 | -9 | 0 | 4 | 3 | -2 | -12 | -24 | -29 |
| Sea (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | -1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | -1 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 16 | 14 | 20 | 24 | 29 | 51 | 51 | 50 | 50 | 36 | 20 | 17 |
| Wet days | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6 | 8 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 11 | 10 | 5 | 5 |
| Sun h/day | 0.5 | 2.1 | 6.9 | 11.6 | 13.5 | 11.4 | 8.5 | 6.2 | 2.9 | 0.9 | 0.6 | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 18 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 17 |
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 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.9 | −0.3 | −0.3 | +0.2 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2021 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.9 | −1.2 | +0.2 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2022 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.5 | +1.6 | +1.1 | +0.1 | +0.4 | +0.5 |
| 2023 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.2 | +2.9 | +1.7 | +1.4 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2024 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.4 | +0.4 | +0.4 | −0.3 | −0.9 | +1.7 | +2.4 | +1.7 | +0.6 | +0.5 |
| 2025 | +0.5 | +0.6 | +0.5 | +0.5 | +0.4 | −0.2 | +0.6 | +3.3 | +2.2 | +1.8 | +0.7 | +0.6 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Photos
Seen by visitors.
Nearby
More islands nearby.
About these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q143246) · 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 | Peakyas, Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; 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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