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 North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD). In 1949, after the war, the Hudson's Bay Company moved its south Baffin operations to the neighbouring valley of Niaqunngut, officially called Apex, in order to use the airfield. The Hudson's Bay Company moved its south Baffin operations to Apex in 1949 (pictured in 2005) to take advantage of the nearby airfield. The US and Canadian authorities named it Frobisher Bay, after the name of the body of water it borders. It had long been used as a campsite and fishing spot by the Inuit, who called it Iqaluit – 'place of many fish' in Inuktitut. The wartime airstrip was known as Crystal Two, was part of the Crimson Route and operates today as Iqaluit Airport. Iqaluit's first permanent resident was Nakasuk, an Inuk guide who helped United States Army Air Forces planners to choose a site with a large flat area suitable for a landing strip. World War II resulted in an influx of non-Inuit to the area in 1942, when the United States built Frobisher Bay Air Base there, on a long-term lease from the Government of Canada, in order to provide a stop-over and refuelling site for the short-range aircraft being ferried to Europe to support the war effort. The name, Iqaluit, comes from Inuktitut Iqaluit (ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ) which means place of many fish.

Iqaluit has been a traditional fishing location used by Inuit for thousands of years. Inhabitants of Iqaluit are called Iqalummiut (singular: Iqalummiuq). Iqaluit has the lowest population of any capital city in Canada.

The city has a polar climate, influenced by the cold deep waters of the Labrador Current just off Baffin Island-this makes the city of Iqaluit cold, although it is well south of the Arctic Circle.Īs of the 2016 census, the population was 7,740 ( population centre: 7,082 ), an increase of 15.5 percent from the 2011 census. This is due to the city's isolation and heavy dependence on expensive imported supplies, as the city, like the rest of Nunavut, has no road or rail, and only has ship connections for part of the year to the rest of Canada. Before this event, Iqaluit was a small city and not well known outside the Canadian Arctic or Canada, with population and economic growth highly limited. In 1999, Iqaluit was designated the capital of Nunavut after the division of the Northwest Territories into two separate territories. In 1987, its traditional Inuktitut name was restored. It was known as Frobisher Bay from 1942 to 1987, after the large bay on the coast of which the city is situated. Iqaluit ( / i ˈ k æ l u ɪ t/ ee- KAL-oo-it Inuktitut syllabics: ᐃᖃᓗᐃᑦ (meaning 'place of many fish') French: ) is the capital of the Canadian territory of Nunavut, its largest community, and its only city.

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