detail from: KRK Art dizajn

ATTRACTIVE CITIES OF CANADA 4

SIMO JELAČA, Ph.D.

IQALUIT

Where is Iqaluit on the map of Canada? Look at the top right corner of the map of Canada until you see Baffin Island. Iqaluit will be marked because it is the capital of Nunavut. Iqaluit is far from any city whose name you can recognize. It's really far away. The fastest route from the south is three hours flight from Ottawa, which includes the crossings of Hudson Strait and the poorly populated northern region of Quebec. Flying over the chipped areas towards the north, but still enough south of the north, where it is 24 hours day or night.

How many people live there? There are about 7000 only. There are enough to constantly see new faces, but also enough to avoid meeting a few acquaintances you meet at the store, at the airport, in a restaurant, in a clinic, and (best / worst of all) in the bar. Iqaluit also has a steady stream of seasonal workers and this passage is easily spotted by permanent residents. The city is small enough to know the local population. Most people living in Iqaluit live in northern Canada for thousands of years: Inuit, which, together with the first nation and Metis Indians, is made up of the Aboriginal people of Canada. However, Iqaluit is considered to be the cosmopolitan center of Nunavut, which means that Iqaluit's surprising ethnic diversity can be seen.

Iqaluit is mainly accessible only by plane and by boat. From the south, the only direct routes are flights from Ottawa or Montreal. These flights are not cheap: you can expect to pay at least $ 1,500 a return ticket. Iqaluit is located at Frobisher Bay, which is frozen from November to June every year. This means that the city has been locked for much of the year. The frozen bay becomes a motorway for snowmobiles, which can drive to uninhabited tundra on land.

Iqaluit has a typical Arctic climate. It's cold there with snow. There is a cold winter from October to May. Warm vignettes, trousers, gloves and scarves are mandatory. These are important items in the closet. Even during the summer months you can forget the wearing of shorts and t-shirts. It is rarely warm enough there, and when it is, there are many mosquitoes. Iqaluit has dry air, and the lack of moisture makes the low temperatures much easier to tolerate. In calm, sunny weather, in the spring days, at a temperature minus -15 °C, it feels quite comfortable.

Iqaluit, a small city, is a community with a lot of spirit. Iqaluit is completely surrounded by a desert, and many people spend their free time "outside, on the ground." And if you are not the type of person who spends time in nature, you can enjoy cultural scenes that are mostly traditional crafts of Inuit (sewing, walking and printing), as well as conventional activities (concerts and festivals). Basically, parties are like those in the south: enjoying food, talking, and laughing with friends, family, and colleagues. Of course, Iqaluit is all this and much more.

As the capital of Nunavut, Iqaluit has about 7,000 inhabitants and is the largest on the territory. Even in the "big city," however, it's not all too far to go from one side of the city to another. If you take a taxi, there is only one unique price for all connections in the city. The Museum, Legislative Assembly, Visitors Center and several hotels are close to each other.

Iqaluit is an interesting place to visit, even for a short time. About 60% of Iqaluit populations are Intuits. Iqaluit Airport is painted in a happy-yellow color. Regular flights are serviced by Iqaluit First Air from Montreal, Ottawa, Yellowknife, Edmonton, Rankin Inlet and Kayak. The lowest temperature ever recorded in Iqaluit is -46 °C on December 21, the shortest day of the year, when Iqaluit has only 4.19 hours of daylight. On the longest day of the year on June 20, Iqaluit has 20.49 hours of sunshine.

Iqaluit has 20 kilometers of road and most of it is not asphalted. From Iqaluit to the airport you can walk by foot.

In 1576, British researcher Martin Frobisher came to Baffin Island in search of Nord West by the sea passage. He founded a settlement that was long considered a camp and fishing ground by Inuit. Since January 1, 1987, the name of the city has been officially changed from "Frobisher Bay" to "Iqaluit". The NorthWest Territory is divided into two units, established on April 1, 1999. In the territory of Nunavut, transport is used mostly by snowmobiles and sometimes dogs with dogs.

ARCTIC BAY

Arctic Bay is a beautiful small community of about 800 inhabitants, located in the far Arctic. It is located in the far north as the third permanent community from the North Pole, and is one of the most beautiful parts. This place is Inuit’s Chateau, located in the northern part of the Borden Peninsula on the Baffin Island in the Qikiqtaaluk region of Nunavut. It is located in the Eastern time zone, although it is close to the next boundary time zone. The prevailing languages in Nunavut include Inuktitut and English.

Travel to Arctic Bay is difficult because of the lack of visitors, and as such, there is a lack of convenience for tourists. The good news is that there is little room in the world that will give you a warmer welcome.

On August 10, 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper stayed in Arctic Bay and then announced the creation of the Nanisivik Navy in order to strengthen the Canadian presence in the Arctic.

Flights to Arctic Bay and back take place at the Arctic Bay airport. This airport was opened in 2011, after building a runway and a new terminal building. Currently, scheduled flights to Arctic Bay are available with First Air Aircraft from Iqaluit and Resolute. Prior to the existence of this airport, the Twin Otter aircraft used the main street leading to the landing site.

The community has one school, Inujak, which enrolls about 200 pupils per year. There is also the Nunavut Arctic College, which is taught by the Saskatchewan program. Students are almost completely Inuit and their first language is Inuktitut. Those who are not permanent residents of Arctic Bay in the community are the only government officials.

Arctic Bay has a tundra climate, with long, very cold winters and short, cold flights. Positive temperatures are only on average from June to August. The record has so far been recorded in June 18.5 °C, and in February -72.3 °C.

Winters last for a long time in Arctic Bay, and temperatures are mostly minus 20 to 30 degrees, from November to the end of March. Rare are snowflakes. The years are cold, often around 8 °C, but the temperature of the air is felt warmer due to the 24-hour sunshine, and the presence of a constant breeze. When the sun goes out on May 8, it does not go down until the first week of August. Also, three months from the 5th of November the sun does not come out. No, it does not fool you. It's not "dark" for three months, because it is dusk. Predominant part of the sun's time is just below the horizon. Visitors here find that light is magical and try to capture every detail of her and every moment of her stay.

Dog sledding in Arctic Bay maintains this tradition. There are working teams for transporting tourists with dog sleds in the city. Several owners are always available to use sled dogs for day trips and shorter excursions.

Polar light (Aurora - Polar lights) is the main tourist attraction of Arctic Bay. There are no better places in the world for looking at polar light than Arctic Bay. The Arctic Bay is close to the Magnetic Pole, which moves 41 km every year. Polar light is active here during the night, and in the winter, and the most intense is in the dark sky. Of course, it is cold then, but the stars look closer and brighter, and here they are more and more abundant. Aurora and observing the stars are purely winter activities in these parts, since the sun does not come out here during the winter.

KENORA

Kenora looks so beautiful with so many greenery and lakes. It's hard to see if the city is more in the lakes or the lakes in the city. Kenora, originally called Rat Portage, is a small town on Lake Woods in northwestern Ontario, near the Manitoba border, about 200 km east of Winnipeg. The city was united with the towns of Keewatin and Norman in 1905. The name, "Kenora", was created by combining two first letters from these places (Keewatin, Norman and Rat Portage). The population of Kenora is just around 16,000.

Kenora is located on the north coast of the beautiful Lake Woods, and is an important tourist destination. The city is alive throughout the year with various festivals and events that happen often, including the Harbourfest during the long weekend. Visitors can enjoy concerts under a tent in the harbor or can visit a local museum displaying the history of the region. Some visitors are willing to ride a boat over the lake, some prefer to paint in front of the Husky Muskie statue, a 40-meter-high replica of fish. Kenora is famous for its coastal beauty and has 5 major beaches in the city. The houses are all beautiful, with beautiful backyard gardens and they seem to be all along the coast, and again in front of each car, which means that there are also streets. The province park is just 20 minutes east of the city. There are many restaurants, hotels, motels or boarding houses in the city. There are also many excursion camps around the city. Unforgettable are walks, during which you can see the beautiful murals, the gardens of this city and the most diverse flowers. There are five hiking trails in Kenora, about 5 km long, with plenty of birds and wild animals. Economic activities in the city are primarily based on cellulose and paper, processing of cereals and fish, production of vessels and tourism.

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