Satellite: Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 by EOX (CC BY 4.0). Outline and points © OpenStreetMap contributors / Natural Earth. North up.
In numbers
2,256km²
Area
320km
Coastline
349m
Highest point
0
People
0°C
Warmest sea
August
602km
To the mainland
When to go to Cornwall Island
Best to visit from December to April.
The sea is warmest in August (0 °C) and coolest in January (-2 °C). The water never reaches 21 °C: bring a wetsuit.
Averages 1991–2020. Sea: NOAA OISST, the water within 35 km of the coast. Air, rain and sun: NASA POWER. Best months weigh warm afternoons (23–30 °C), sea of 24 °C or more and few wet days.
Island in Nunavut, Canada
Cornwall Island is an island in Canada. It covers 2,256 km², with 320 km of coastline. Its highest point rises to 349 m. Nobody lives on it. The nearest mainland is 602 km away.
Getting there
- Resolute Bay Airport (YRB)nearest airport with scheduled flights · 323 km in a straight lineCar hire at YZF airport (Yellowknife)Discover Cars · Affiliate link↗
- 602 km from the mainlanddistance to the nearest continental coast
- From December to Aprilbest months to go (from 30 years of averages)
Plan the trip
Ferries, stays and things to do
Some links above are affiliate links: if you book through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you. It never changes what the data on this page says.
On the island
What you find on Cornwall Island.
- 69beaches
- 2named peaksMount Nicolay, Mount Greenwich
Counted in OpenStreetMap, the map anyone can edit, inside the island's outline. A low number may only mean nobody has mapped it yet.
Cross-checked with our atlases
Cornwall Island in our other atlases
Everything Coastya, Peakyas, Lakeyas and Cascadyas know about what lies inside Cornwall Island, each with its own numbers.
1lakeLakeyas
Largest lake
3.4km²
Nicolay Lake
according to Lakeyas
1 lakes
on Lakeyas, the lake atlas
- Nicolay Lake3.4km²
Lakeyas is coming soonOpen Lakeyas ↗
The shape of the land.
On average the island stands 61 m above the sea. 99 % of it is below 200 m.
- 51 %0–50 m
- 49 %50–200 m
- <1 %200–500 m
Share of the island's area in each altitude band, from the Copernicus DEM (30 m, read at 30–240 m on large islands).
Size, for real
Next to islands you may know.
50 km
All outlines drawn to the same scale (Natural Earth and OpenStreetMap).
Month by month
The weather on the island.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afternoon high (°C) | -26 | -27 | -24 | -16 | -6 | 2 | 5 | 3 | -4 | -13 | -20 | -23 |
| Night low (°C) | -30 | -30 | -28 | -20 | -10 | 0 | 2 | 0 | -7 | -17 | -24 | -27 |
| Sea (°C) | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -2 | -1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 | -2 | -2 |
| Rain (mm) | 12 | 11 | 16 | 16 | 18 | 26 | 50 | 47 | 29 | 26 | 16 | 16 |
| Wet days | 2 | 2 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 7 | 9 | 12 | 9 | 7 | 5 | 3 |
| Sun h/day | — | 0.6 | 2.8 | 9.3 | 9.7 | 9.4 | 7.6 | 4.4 | 2.5 | 1.0 | — | — |
| Wind (km/h) | 16 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 17 | 16 | 16 |
Averages 1991–2020 for the ~55 km NASA POWER cell over the island; the sea from NOAA OISST.
Recent years
Warmer and cooler years at sea.
Each month's sea temperature compared with its 1991–2020 average, in degrees.
| Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −1.1 | −1.3 | −0.9 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 |
| 2021 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −1.2 | −1.4 | −1.0 | −0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 |
| 2022 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.5 | −1.2 | −1.5 | −1.0 | −0.2 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 |
| 2023 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.5 | −1.2 | −1.4 | −0.9 | −0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 |
| 2024 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | −0.1 | −0.4 | −1.2 | −1.3 | −0.6 | +0.2 | +0.1 | ±0.0 |
| 2025 | ±0.0 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 | ±0.0 | −0.4 | −1.0 | −1.1 | −0.8 | ±0.0 | +0.1 | +0.1 |
+1 warmer than usual −1 cooler than usual
Nearby
More islands nearby.
Amund Ringnes Island
Canada5,255 km²74 m90 km away
Graham IslandCanada1,367 km²186 m102 km away
North Kent IslandCanada587 km²600 m153 km away
King Christian IslandCanada649 km²165 m168 km away
Ellef Ringnes IslandCanada11,295 km²266 m201 km away
Axel Heiberg IslandCanada43,178 km²2,210 m250 km away
Bathurst IslandCanada16,042 km²389 m249 km away
Lougheed IslandCanada1,313 km²122 m252 km awayAbout these numbers
| Names, area, population | Wikidata (Q632942) · CC0 |
|---|---|
| Outline | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Sea temperature | NOAA OISST v2.1 · 1991–2020 |
| Climate | NASA POWER · 1991–2020 |
| Relief, 3D model | Copernicus DEM GLO-30 · © DLR e.V., © Airbus Defence and Space GmbH, Copernicus/ESA |
| Beaches, ports, lighthouses, trails | © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL |
| Towns | GeoNames · CC BY 4.0 |
| Images | EOX Sentinel-2 cloudless 2016 · CC BY 4.0; Wikimedia Commons |
| Beaches, mountains, lakes and waterfalls | Lakeyas — Wikidata · CC0; © OpenStreetMap contributors · ODbL; GeoNames · CC BY 4.0; HydroLAKES (Messager et al. 2016) · CC BY 4.0, LakeTEMP (Korver et al. 2024) · CC BY 4.0 |
Every figure is an average, an estimate or a count from a public dataset. Licences and methods: data sources.
The family
Do you prefer beaches, lakes, mountains, waterfalls, islands, rivers or canyons?
Same idea, other landscapes: field atlases built on open data, month by month, in seven languages.
beaches
Find your beach: sea temperature, sun and swimming month by month.Visit lakes
Every lake on Earth: water temperature, ice, depth and the shore.Coming soonVisit 
mountains
Every summit in 3D: summit weather, the 0 °C line, huts and trails.Visit 
waterfalls
Every waterfall: height, flow month by month and when it roars.Coming soonVisit 
islands
Every island from the sea up: size, sea temperature, ferries and 3D.You are here
rivers
Every river from source to sea: the journey, the flow and the basin in numbers.Visit 
canyons
Every canyon cut to scale: depth to the floor, rim and floor temperatures, trails and viewpoints.Coming soonVisit