It’s named after our county and has a dark history
Devon island is home to unliveable conditions (Image: Getty Images)
Located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, Devon Island is the world’s largest uninhabited island, situated in Baffin Bay, Nunavut. Named after Devon in England, the island has no permanent residents due to its inhospitable conditions.
The island has a dark past of ill-fated expeditions and failed settlement attempts. The last endeavour to establish a community on the island ended in failure in 1951, and the island was vacated, except for sporadic visits to maintain the graves of those laid to rest on its soil.
As travel blogger Explanders notes, the island’s climate is particularly harsh, rendering it inhospitable for human habitation. In its description, Explanders says: “Hidden in Canada’s faraway Arctic region, the island of Devon is probably one of the most inhospitable places on Earth, often defined as a polar desert.
There have been many expeditions to the island in the past(Image: Getty Images)
“Roughly the size of New York State, Devon is the largest uninhabited island anywhere in the world, as well as the second-largest island in the archipelago of Queen Elizabeth.
“With little or no fauna and flora, the island’s frozen wasteland bears an uncanny resemblance to Mars, making it a favorable environment for space research among scientists and the last frontier for the most intrepid travellers.” – reports the Express.
Devon Island is often remembered in association with the ill-fated Franklin Expedition of 1845. A total of 129 men, aboard two ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror, embarked on a mission to map the Northwest Passage for Great Britain but never returned.
Years later, search operations discovered remnants of the crew on Devon Island, including clothes, rope and hundreds of empty food tins. Graves of some of those aboard the two ships were subsequently found on the neighbouring Beechey Island.
Devon Island ranks as the world’s 27th largest island – to put it into perspective, the next biggest is Tasmania, Australia’s main island.
The island’s climate and environment bear a striking resemblance to Mars, leading Nasa to use it as a research site for potential missions to the Red Planet, according to BBC reports.