Nunavik, formerly known as Nouveau-Québec, is the vast territory in Quebec north of the 55th parallel. The region is huge and covers 444,000 km2. Over 12,000 people live in 14 villages, mostly along the shores of Hudson Bay and Hudson Strait, as well as Ungava Bay.
The land around Nunavik is composed mostly of tundra. In this climatic zone, little snow falls in the winter, and because of the winds, it becomes dense and hard. When it melts, it feeds hundreds of lakes and rivers. With the sun and melted snow, plants grow very quickly; there are mosses, lichens and carpets of flowers, but very few trees (and they are very small). Several species of birds, such as the snowy owl, live in the tundra, which is also home to fish like Arctic char and mammals like the muskox.
The northern part of Nunavik is in the permafrost zone. Here, the soil is permanently frozen. It is therefore difficult to build houses, for example, or water systems. This is why people living in the villages in this zone have had to set up daily drinking water delivery services.
In Nunavik the aurora borealis also occurs. Beautiful light displays in the night sky are caused by particles from the sun and space that are influenced by the magnetic fields of Earth’s North Pole.