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Where is the Northwest Passage located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago?

Created from Britannica articles using AI. AI can make mistakes, so verify using Britannica articles.
Map of the Arctic region highlighting the Northwest Passage, a maritime route shown with a red line connecting the Atlantic Ocean near Greenland to the Pacific Ocean via the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, passing north of Canada and Alaska through the Bering Sea. Major islands and surrounding countries such as Russia, Norway, Denmark (Greenland), the United States (Alaska), and Canada are labeled.
Northwest Passage

The Northwest Passage is located within the Arctic Archipelago of northern Canada, consisting of a series of deep channels that extend approximately 900 miles (1,450 km) from east to west.1

The route stretches from north of Baffin Island in the east to the Beaufort Sea in the west, situated above the U.S. state of Alaska. A key section of this passage includes the Viscount Melville Sound, which serves as a crossroads for Arctic waterways located between Banks, Victoria, and Prince of Wales islands to the south and Melville and Bathurst islands to the north.12

The passage is positioned 500 miles (800 km) north of the Arctic Circle and less than 1,200 miles (1,930 km) from the North Pole.1