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Iqaluit is the capital city of [[Nunavut]] and the tiniest of such in [[Canada]]. With a population around 6000 inhabitants, this town It is one of the seven communities located on the largest island in Canada, the Baffin Island is only accessible by air . Its population varies between 6000 and by sea according to the ice conditions which makes it a remote place and hitching is not really possible as its transportation network only stretch 8000, half of about a kilometre outside townthem being Inuit.
Most older settlements were built by military at the lowest material cost to be exclusively functional mainly because of the cost of material importation, which does not bring any particular interest towards architecture. Nowadays, the town is of political importance, which makes it a thriving community. The interests in the area remain in the large unspoiled nordic Nordic landscape, midnight sun and other natural interests.
Iqaluit hosts the hitchhikingly famous '''Road to Nowhere'''. It really leads nowhere.
== Hitchhiking ==
Hitching within the community is very limited as the road network only stretch of about a kilometre outside town to the community of Apex, officially part of Iqaluit. Because of the non-existent hitchhiking culture, Inuit don't really understand what the gesture is for, though they might stop out of curiosity. There are a lot of cars, and people often give rides to pedestrians they know, especially when the weather is harsh.
It would be very difficult for a hitchhiker to reach Iqaluit overland. During the summer, one could try [[Hitchhiking a boat]] to Baffin Island which would be one of those three situations:
* Cargo boat or sealift coming from [[Montreal]]
* Round-the-world or adventure sailboat
* Arctic cruise ship : most come from [[Nuuk]] in [[Greenland]] and stop in Iqaluit before heading South. They are not regular lines.
Keep in mind that there is no marina in Iqaluit, not even a dock. Ships remain in the Frobisher Bay while a barge unloads the goods. Smaller boats are sent for people. This could make it very difficult to hitch out of the community.
One could try [[Hitchhiking a plane]]. The passenger airlines reaching Iqaluit from communities linked to Canada's main road network are [http://www.canadiannorth.com/ Canadian North], [http://www.firstair.ca/ First Air] and [http://www.aircanada.com/ AirCanada]. They depart from [[Montreal]] and [[Ottawa]], and indirect routes from [[Winnipeg]], [[Edmonton]] and [[Yellowknife]]. But as airliners are usually not good to hitchhike on, one could have more chances with cargo flights, some of which also leave from [[Val d'Or]] in Quebec. It varies with the time of the year and weather conditions.
Even though some adventurers historically crossed to Baffin Island from the mainland, this is not something you should consider. The currents in the Hudson Strait are very strong and locals do not venture there. Changes in the climate also make Arctic sea ice formation less predictable and reliable, and some straits that use to freeze fast cannot be trusted anymore.
{{IsIn|Nunavut}}
[[Category:Canada]]
[[Category:Nunavut]]