Prince Charles Island is a large, low-lying island with an area of 9,521 km2 (3,676 sq mi), making it the world's 78th largest island and the 19th largest island in Canada. It is located in Foxe Basin, off the west coast of Baffin Island, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada. Despite the island's size, it wasn't discovered until 1932, when the tug captain W. A. Poole first sighted it. Unfortunately his information never made it onto any published map. It was rediscovered in 1948 by Albert-Ernest Tomkinson navigating an RCAF Avro Lancaster, though it was likely known to the local Inuit long before that. The island was named for Prince Charles, who was born the same year. The island is uninhabited and its temperatures are extremely cold.
Famous quotes containing the words prince, charles and/or island:
“We live under a prince who is an enemy to fraud, a prince whose eyes penetrate into the heart, and whom all the art of impostors can’t deceive.”
—Molière [Jean Baptiste Poquelin] (1622–1673)
“As I was going by Charing Cross,
I saw a black man upon a black horse;
They told me it was King Charles the First—”
—Unknown. As I was going by Charing Cross (l. 1–3)
“This island is made mainly of coal and surrounded by fish. Only an organizing genius could produce a shortage of coal and fish at the same time.”
—Aneurin Bevan (1897–1960)