Kimmirut, Nunavut, formerly known as Lake Harbour until 1 January 1996, is a captivating community nestled in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. The community is situated on the shore of Hudson Strait on Baffin Island's Meta Incognita Peninsula. The name 'Kimmirut' translates to 'heel', a term that refers to a rocky outcrop in the inlet.
Kimmirut, Nunavut, has a rich history as a Hudson's Bay Company trading post and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police post. The Canadian explorer J. Dewey Soper utilized these posts as headquarters during his explorations in the 1920s and 1930s. Today, the community is served by Kimmirut Airport and an annual supply sealift. A proposal for a road to Iqaluit was put forward in 2005, but it was deemed impractical due to the roundabout routing over the mountains.
According to the 2021 Canadian census conducted by Statistics Canada, Kimmirut, Nunavut, had a population of 426 living in 116 of its 150 total private dwellings. This figure represents a 9.5% increase from its 2016 population of 389. With a land area of 2.3 km2 (0.89 sq mi), Kimmirut had a population density of 185.2/km2 (479.7/sq mi) in 2021.
Since 2005, the community of Kimmirut, Nunavut, has been served by the Qiniq network. This fixed wireless service caters to homes and businesses, connecting them to the outside world via a satellite backbone. The Qiniq network is designed and operated by SSI Micro. In 2017, the network was upgraded to 4G LTE technology, and 2G-GSM for mobile voice.
Kimmirut, Nunavut, experiences an Arctic climate (Köppen: ET), despite being well outside the Arctic Circle. The city endures cold winters and short summers that are too cool to permit the growth of trees. Located north of the tree line, average monthly temperatures in Kimmirut are below freezing for eight months of the year. The community averages just over 335 mm (13.2 in) of precipitation annually, making it wetter than many other localities in the Arctic Archipelago, with summer being the wettest season.
