British Arctic Territories
The British Arctic territories, now known as the Arctic Archipelago were claimed by the United Kingdom in North America. The region was part of British North America.
The British claim to the area was based on the discoveries of Martin Frobisher in the 16th century. Britain passed control of the islands to Canada in 1880, by means of an Imperial Order in Council, the Adjacent Territories Order, passed under the Royal Prerogative. After the 1880 transfer Canada gradually incorporated the islands with Rupert's Land into the Northwest Territories. The transfer was necessary over the fear of American interest in the area as part of the Monroe Doctrine.
On April 1, 1999, the territory of Nunavut was created from the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories. The majority of the islands became part of Nunavut. Islands split between Nunavut and Northwest Territories include Victoria Island, Melville Island, Mackenzie King Island and Borden Island.
These islands were never part of Rupert's Land nor the North-Western Territory, both of whose trade monopolies were managed by the Hudson's Bay Company. Canada had acquired those regions in 1870, creating the new Province of Manitoba and Northwest Territories, with the name Northwest Territories retained by the successor government in the region flanked by the Mackenzie River drainage to the north of Alberta.British Arctic Territory flag hoax
has a tradition of posting a new flag for the British Arctic Territory every April 1. It has led to some persistent misinformation on the web.
