Editing Iqaluit (section)

== History ==
Iqaluit has been a traditional fishing location used by [[Inuit]] and their predecessors, the [[Paleo-Eskimo]] ([[Dorset culture]]) and [[Thule people|Thule]], for thousands of years.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.myconsultant.ca/EN/Iqaluit-Nunavut--A-Guide-for-Newcomers |title=Iqaluit, Nunavut – A Guide for Newcomers |access-date=25 December 2021 |archive-date=25 December 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225183011/https://www.myconsultant.ca/EN/Iqaluit-Nunavut--A-Guide-for-Newcomers |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>[https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/iqaluit Iqaluit] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211225183004/https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/iqaluit |date=25 December 2021}} at The Canadian Encyclopedia</ref> The name, ''Iqaluit,'' comes from [[Inuktitut]] Iqaluit (ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ), which means ''place of many fish''.<ref name="city">{{cite web |url=https://www.iqaluit.ca/visitors/explore-iqaluit/history |title=About Iqaluit: History & Milestones – City of Iqaluit |website=www.city.iqaluit.nu.ca |access-date=4 February 2025 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200623013451/https://www.iqaluit.ca/visitors/explore-iqaluit/history |archive-date=23 June 2020}}</ref>

[[World War II]] resulted in an influx of non-Inuit to the area in 1942, when the United States built [[Iqaluit Airport#History|Frobisher Bay Air Base]] there, on a long-term lease from the [[Government of Canada]],{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} in order to provide a stop-over and refuelling site for the short-range aircraft being ferried to Europe to support the war effort. Iqaluit's first permanent resident was [[Nakasuk]], an [[Inuit|Inuk]] guide who helped [[United States Army Air Forces]] planners to choose a site with a large flat area suitable for a landing strip.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Thorne |first=Stephen J. |date=2023-02-21 |title=Northern reflections - Exploring military connections in Iqaluit on Remembrance Day |url=https://legionmagazine.com/northern-reflections-exploring-military-connections-in-iqaluit-on-remembrance-day/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=Legion Magazine |language=en-US}}</ref> The wartime airstrip was known as Crystal Two and was part of the [[Crimson Route]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Eno |first=Robert V. |date=2003 |title=Crystal Two: The Origin of Iqaluit |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/40512159 |journal=Arctic |volume=56 |issue=1 |pages=63–75 |issn=0004-0843}}</ref> It operates today as [[Iqaluit Airport]].{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

The US and Canadian authorities named it ''Frobisher Bay'', after the name of the body of water it borders.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

[[File:GebaeudeHudsenBayCompanyApexFotoAndreKaiser.GIF|thumb|left|The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] moved its south Baffin operations to [[Apex, Iqaluit|Apex]] in 1949 (pictured in 2005) to take advantage of the nearby airfield.]]

In 1949, after the war, the [[Hudson's Bay Company]] moved its south Baffin operations to the neighbouring valley of ''Niaqunngut'', officially called [[Apex, Iqaluit|Apex]], in order to use the airfield.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} In the mid-1950s, the population of Frobisher Bay increased rapidly during the construction of the [[Distant Early Warning Line]] (DEW line), a system of defensive radar stations—see [[NORAD]] (North American Aerospace Defense Command).{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Hundreds of mostly non-Inuit construction workers, military personnel, and administrative staff moved into the community, and several hundred Inuit followed, to take advantage of the access to jobs and medical care provided by the base operations.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} By 1957, 489 of the town's 1,200 residents were reported to be Inuit. After 1959, the Canadian government established permanent services at Frobisher Bay, including full-time doctors, a school, and social services. The Inuit population grew rapidly in response, as the government encouraged Inuit to settle permanently in communities supported by government services.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

Naval Radio Station (NRS) Frobisher Bay (HMCS Frobisher Bay), callsign CFI, was established in July 1954 as a result of the closure of NRS Chimo, Quebec. Station CFI was part of the Supplementary Radio network. Because of its remoteness and size, it was very expensive to operate. Renamed [[CFS Frobisher Bay]] in 1966, advancing technology eventually forced the closure of CFI later that year.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/frobisher-bay.html |title=HMCS Frobisher Bay |date=6 October 2017 |access-date=19 July 2020 |archive-date=19 July 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200719195841/https://www.canada.ca/en/navy/services/history/ships-histories/frobisher-bay.html |url-status=live}}</ref>

The American military left Iqaluit in 1963,<ref>{{Cite news |last=Waring |first=Gerald |date=1963-07-04 |title=Frobisher Bay |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-vancouver-sun-gerald-waring/172459625/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=The Vancouver Sun |pages=4}}</ref> as their development of the [[intercontinental ballistic missile]]s (ICBM) diminished the strategic value of the [[Distant Early Warning Line|DEW line]] and [[Arctic]] airbases. Canada continued to operate an administrative and logistical centre for much of the eastern Arctic at Frobisher Bay. In 1964, the first local elections were held for a community council, and in 1979 for the first mayor.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} The founding of the Gordon Robertson Educational Centre, now [[Inuksuk High School]], in the 1971<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hume |first=Steve |date=1971-10-12 |title=North school runs into snag |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/edmonton-journal-north-school-runs-into/172458454/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=Edmonton Journal |pages=39}}</ref> at Iqaluit confirmed the government's commitment to the community as an administrative centre. At the time of its founding, this was the sole high school operating in what constituted more than one-seventh of Canadian territory.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}}

On 1 January 1987, the name of the municipality was changed from "Frobisher Bay" to "Iqaluit."<ref>{{Cite book |last=Alia |first=Valerie |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Names_and_Nunavut/rVoNxuS4n1gC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Frobisher+Bay+iqaluit+name&pg=PA67&printsec=frontcover |title=Names and Nunavut: Culture and Identity in Arctic Canada |date= |publisher=[[Berghahn Books]] |year=2008 |isbn=978-1-84545-413-5 |pages=67 |language=en}}</ref> This aligned official usage with the name that the Inuit population had always used, although many documents were made that referred to Iqaluit as Frobisher Bay for several years after 1987. In the non-binding [[1995 Nunavut capital plebiscite]], held 11 December, the residents of what would become the new territory selected Iqaluit (over [[Rankin Inlet]]) to serve as the future capital. On 19 April 2001, it became an official city.<ref>{{Cite news |last=George |first=Jane |date=2001-03-30 |title=Iqaluit, pop. 6,000 to declare itself a city |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/national-post-iqaluit-pop-6000-to-dec/172458026/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=National Post |pages=5}}</ref>

Canada designated Iqaluit as the host city for the 2010 meeting of the [[G7]] (Group of Seven) finance ministers, held on 5–6 February.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-g7-talks-serious-business-aglukkaq-1.924821 |title=Iqaluit G7 talks serious business: Aglukkaq |publisher=Cbc.ca |date=2 February 2010 |access-date=12 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120922173405/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2010/02/02/iqa-g7-talks.html |archive-date=22 September 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref> The requirements for the international meeting strained the northern communications technology infrastructure and required supplemental investment.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/g7-tests-nunavut-data-networks-1.890104 |title=G7 tests Nunavut data networks |publisher=Cbc.ca |date=4 February 2010 |access-date=12 December 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120104203326/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2010/02/04/iqaluit-g7-communications.html |archive-date=4 January 2012 |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Timeline ===
*1576 – Englishman [[Martin Frobisher]] sails into [[Frobisher Bay]] believing he has found the westward route to China. He held the first Anglican church service in North America here.
*1861 – [[Charles Francis Hall]], an American, camps at the [[Sylvia Grinnell River]] and explores the waters of Koojesse Inlet,<ref name="kooin">{{cite cgndb|OAJHD|Koojesse Inlet|7 July 2020}}</ref> which he names after his Inuit guide.
*1942 – The [[United States Army Air Forces]] selects this area as the site of a major air base to support war efforts in the United Kingdom and Europe.
*1949 – The [[Hudson's Bay Company]] (HBC) moves its [[trading post]] from [[Ward Inlet]] to nearby Apex.
*1955 – Frobisher Bay becomes the centre for the United States/Canada [[Distant Early Warning Line|DEW Line]] construction operations. Many Inuit continue to settle here for local services.
*1958 – Telephone exchange service established by [[Bell Canada]].
*1963 – United States military move out, resulting in some population loss.
*1964 – First community council formed.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} The population of Frobisher Bay is 900.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Hicks |first=Laureen |date=1964-01-18 |title=Youngest Eskimo comes to Montreal, joins many others |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-montreal-star-youngest-eskimo-comes/172460632/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=The Montreal Star |pages=57}}</ref>
*1970 – Frobisher Bay officially recognized as a settlement.
*1974 – Settlement of Frobisher Bay gains village status.
*1976 – Inuit present a proposal for a separate Nunavut Territory to the Federal government.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hastedt |first=Glenn |title=Inuit File Claim to a Section of Canadian Territory {{!}} EBSCO Research Starters |url=https://www.ebsco.com/research-starters/law/inuit-file-claim-section-canadian-territory#:~:text=On%20February%2027,%201976,%20Inuit%20leaders%20presented,1.3%20million%20square%20miles,%20including%20ocean%20territory.&text=The%20proposal%20also%20included%20a%20vision%20for,separate%20from%20the%20Northwest%20Territories%20and%20Yukon. |access-date=2025-05-15 |website=www.ebsco.com |language=en}}</ref>
*1979 – The first mayor elected, Bryan Pearson.
*1980 – Frobisher Bay designated as a town.
*1982 – [[Government of Canada]] agrees in principle to the creation of Nunavut.
*1987 – Frobisher Bay is renamed as ''Iqaluit,'' its original Inuktitut name meaning "place of (many) fish".
*1993 – The [[Nunavut Land Claims Agreement]] is signed in Iqaluit.<ref>{{Cite news |date=1993-05-26 |title=Deal gives Inuits own territory |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/daily-gleaner-deal-gives-inuits-own-terr/172460523/ |access-date=2025-05-15 |work=Daily Gleaner |pages=2}}</ref>
*1995 – Nunavut residents select Iqaluit as the capital of the new territory<ref name="capitalwinreport">{{cite web |url=http://www.nunanet.com/~nunat/week/51215.html#2 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20070311101305/http://www.nunanet.com/~nunat/week/51215.html%232 |archive-date=11 March 2007 |title=Iqaluit Wins the Capital Plebiscite |date=15 December 1995 |publisher=Nunatisaq News |access-date=30 July 2006}}</ref>
*1 April 1999 – The territory of Nunavut is established.
*19 April 2001 – Iqaluit is chartered as a city.
*2002 – Iqaluit, along with [[Nuuk]], [[Greenland]], co-host the first jointly hosted [[Arctic Winter Games]]; the [[Arctic Winter Games Arena]] was constructed in Iqaluit for the event.
*5 February 2010 – Canada designates Iqaluit to host the finance meeting as part of the 2010 [[G7]] summit.<ref name="test">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/iqaluit-to-host-g7-finance-meeting-1.801238 |title=Iqaluit to host G7 finance meeting |publisher=CBC News |date=18 November 2009 |access-date=25 August 2012 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121114180504/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/story/2009/11/18/nunavut-g7-meet.html |archive-date=14 November 2012}}</ref>
*29 July 2022 – [[Pope Francis]] visits Iqaluit to meet with a group of former residential school alumni on his [[Visit by Pope Francis to Canada|penitential apostolic visit to Canada]]. He is the first Pope to visit Nunavut.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/pope-francis-iqaluit-nunavut-visit-1.6535224 |title=Pope Francis, in Iqaluit visit, asks forgiveness for residential schools |date=29 July 2022 |access-date=29 August 2022 |archive-date=3 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220803135959/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/north/pope-francis-iqaluit-nunavut-visit-1.6535224 |url-status=live}}</ref>