Alert is the northernmost permanent settlement in the world. It is located at , on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island on the shore of the Lincoln Sea , in the territory of Nunavut in Canada.
Alert had 5 permanent inhabitants in the 2001 census. Alert also has many temporary inhabitants as it hosts a military signals intelligence radio receiving facility at Canadian Forces Station Alert (CFS Alert), as well as a co-located Environment Canada weather station and an atmosphere monitoring laboratory.
The rugged terrain of the settlement is surrounded by hills and valleys. The shore is composed primarily of slate and shale, and the sea is covered with pack ice year-round. The local climate is actually semi-arid.
Sir George Nares was the first to reach the northern end of Ellesmere Island; he arrived in the H.M.S. Alert in 1875–1876. The weather station was established in 1950, and the military station in 1958.
Alert is one of a handful of settlements in Canada's north that was not renamed in the 1980s and 1990s when many towns in the Northwest Territories (of which Nunavut was a part until 2000) were given Inuit names.
Other settlements: Eureka, Grise Fiord.
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Last updated: 05-22-2005 03:39:01
