{{Short description|River in northern Canada}} {{Use Canadian English|date=January 2023}} {{Infobox river | name = Nanook River | image = | image_caption = | pushpin_map = Canada | pushpin_map_caption = Location of mouth | source1_location = | mouth_location =[[Hadley Bay]], [[Viscount Melville Sound]] | mouth_coordinates = {{coord|71.600|-107.783|format=dms|region:CA-NU|name=Nanook River|display=inline,title}} | subdivision_type1 = Country | subdivision_name1 = Canada | subdivision_type2 = Province, Territory | subdivision_name2 = [[Nunavut]], [[Northwest Territories]] | length = | source1_elevation = | mouth_elevation = [[Sea level]] | discharge1_avg = | basin_size = }}
The '''Nanook River''' (meaning "[[polar bear]]") is located on [[Victoria Island (Canada)|Victoria Island]] in [[Northern Canada]], commencing in the [[Northwest Territories]] and ending in [[Nunavut]].
The Nanook River originates in the island's central plain,<ref name="Struzik">{{cite book|last=Struzik|first=Ed |title=Ten Rivers: Adventure Stories from the Arctic |publisher=CanWest Books |date=2005|pages=105|isbn=0-9736719-4-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=162ycz325jsC&q=Nanook+River+Victoria+Island&pg=PA105}}</ref> south of the [[Shaler Mountains]].<ref name="away">{{cite web|url=http://www.gorp.com/weekend-guide/travel-ta-nunavut-rafting-snow-sports-paddling-sidwcmdev_057382.html|title=Nunavut - Land of Adventure |publisher=GORP.com |accessdate=March 10, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140201224835/http://www.gorp.com/weekend-guide/travel-ta-nunavut-rafting-snow-sports-paddling-sidwcmdev_057382.html|archive-date=February 1, 2014 |url-status=dead}}</ref> about two hours by [[Twin Otter]] north of [[Cambridge Bay, Nunavut|Cambridge Bay]].
The river flows east, passes through a rapid,<ref>Struzik (2005), p. 110</ref> and then enters Namaycush Lake. From here, it proceeds northwards through several lakes, the last being the largest at {{convert|10|km|abbr=on}} long and {{convert|7|km|abbr=on}} wide.<ref>Struzik (2005), p. 115</ref> The final {{convert|8|km|abbr=on}} include several uncharted rapids before the river's mouth reaches [[Hadley Bay]], emptying into [[Viscount Melville Sound]].<ref name="Hodgins">{{cite book|last=Hodgins|first=Bruce W. |author2=Gwyneth Hoyle|title=Canoeing north into the unknown: a record of river travel, 1874 to 1974|publisher=Dundurn Press Ltd.|date=1994|pages=253|isbn=0-920474-93-4|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eBn41p-P9lYC&q=Nanook+River+Victoria+Island&pg=PA253}}</ref>
No [[glacier]]s feed the river. [[Pedicularis|Lousewort]], [[Papaver radicatum|Arctic poppy]], [[Dryas (plant)|aven]], [[Cyperaceae|sedge]], willow thickets are found along the river. [[Arctic fox]], [[lemming]], [[muskox]], [[snowy owl]], [[Peary caribou]] frequent the river, and polar bears are common at its mouth.
==See also== *[[List of rivers of the Northwest Territories]] *[[List of rivers of Nunavut]]
==References== {{Reflist|2}}
{{Rivers of Nunavut}} {{Northwest Territories hydrography}}
{{authority control}}
[[Category:Rivers of the Kitikmeot Region]] [[Category:Rivers of the Northwest Territories]] [[Category:Victoria Island (Canada)]] [[Category:Rivers of Nunavut]]