Alert, Nunavut
Alert | |
|---|---|
The main CFS Alert complex from the south, May 2016 | |
| Motto: Inuit Nunangata Ungata (Beyond the Inuit Land) | |
| Coordinates: 82°30′N 62°22′W / 82.500°N 62.367°W | |
| Country | Canada |
| Territory | Nunavut |
| Region | Qikiqtaaluk |
| Established | April 9, 1950 |
| Area | |
• Total | 55.173 sq mi (142.898 km2) |
| Elevation | 100 ft (30 m) |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 0 |
| Time zone | UTC−05:00 (EST) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−04:00 (EDT) |
| GNBC Code | OAAQK |
| Website | www.canada.ca/en/air-force/corporate/alert.html |
Alert, in the Qikiqtaaluk Region of Nunavut, Canada, is the northernmost continuously inhabited place in the world. The location is on Ellesmere Island (in the Queen Elizabeth Islands) at latitude 82°30'05" north, 817 km (508 mi) from the North Pole. It takes its name from the Royal Navy vessel HMS Alert, which wintered 10 km (6.2 mi) east of the present station off what is now Cape Sheridan in 1875–1876.
All Alert residents are temporary, typically serving three- to six-month tours of duty there. They staff a military signals intelligence radio receiving facility at Canadian Forces Station Alert (CFS Alert, which includes Alert Airport), as well as the Dr. Neil Trivett Global Atmosphere Watch Observatory, a co-located weather station and monitoring observatory, both operated by Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC).
In the 2021 census, the permanent population was recorded as 0.