Editing Labrador (section)

==Geography==
{{More citations needed section|date=June 2023}}
[[Image:Labrador fullmap.gif|thumb|left|Map of Labrador]]
Labrador has a roughly triangular shape that encompasses the easternmost section of the [[Canadian Shield]], a sweeping geographical region of thin soil and abundant mineral resources. Its western border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula. Lands that drain into the [[Atlantic Ocean]] are part of Labrador, while lands that drain into [[Hudson Bay]] are part of Quebec. Labrador's extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a short border with Nunavut on Killiniq Island. Labrador also has a maritime border with Greenland. Northern Labrador's climate is classified as [[Polar climate|polar]], while Southern Labrador's climate is classified as [[Subarctic climate|subarctic]].

Labrador can be divided into four geographical regions: the North Coast, Central Labrador, Western Labrador, and the South Coast. Each of those regions is described below.

===North Coast===
From Cape Chidley to [[Hamilton Inlet]], the long, thin, northern tip of Labrador holds the [[Torngat Mountains]], named after an Inuit spirit believed to inhabit them. The mountains stretch along the coast from Port Manvers to [[Cape Chidley]], the northernmost point of Labrador. The Torngat Mountain range is also home to [[Mount Caubvick]], the highest point in the province. This area is predominantly Inuit, with the exception of a small Innu community, [[Natuashish]].<ref>{{cite web |title=The Innu of Labrador: From Davis Inlet to Natuashish |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/background/aboriginals/natuashish.html |website=CBC News |access-date=October 16, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20041217030423/https://www.cbc.ca/news/background/aboriginals/natuashish.html |archive-date=Dec 17, 2004 |date=December 14, 2004}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/natuashish-struggling-with-the-hangovers-of-old-davis-inlet |title=Natuashish: Struggling with the hangovers of old Davis Inlet |publisher=CBC |date=Feb 8, 2005 |access-date=Oct 16, 2020 |archive-date=March 18, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220318171634/https://www.cbc.ca/archives/entry/natuashish-struggling-with-the-hangovers-of-old-davis-inlet |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="power">{{cite web |url=https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hunting-demons/article23331533/ |title=A decade after the people of Davis Inlet were relocated, they are still hunting demons |publisher=The Globe and Mail |date=March 6, 2015 |access-date=Oct 16, 2020 |first=Peter |last=Power |archive-date=August 15, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220815221858/https://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/national/hunting-demons/article23331533/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/band-money-fuelling-addictions-sources-1.542082 |title=Band money fuelling addictions: sources |date=Feb 9, 2005 |publisher=CBC News |access-date=Oct 16, 2020 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107002923/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/band-money-fuelling-addictions-sources-1.542082 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/labrador-innu-leaders-pocketing-band-money-audit-1.542105 |title=Labrador Innu leaders pocketing band money: audit |date=Oct 26, 2005 |access-date=Oct 16, 2020 |publisher=CBC News |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107002910/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/labrador-innu-leaders-pocketing-band-money-audit-1.542105 |url-status=live }}</ref> The North Coast is the most isolated region of Labrador, with [[snowmobile]]s, boats, and planes being the only modern modes of transportation. The largest community in this region is [[Nain, Newfoundland and Labrador|Nain]].<ref name="mun.ca">{{cite web |url=https://www.mun.ca/labmetis/pdf/toponymy%20final%20report.pdf |title=Toponymic and Cartographic Research Conducted for the Labrador Métis Nation |website=mun.ca |date=September 2008 |access-date=26 December 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180104223307/http://www.mun.ca/labmetis/pdf/toponymy%20final%20report.pdf |archive-date=2018-01-04 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

====Nunatsiavut====
[[Nunatsiavut]] is an Inuit self-government region in Labrador created on June 23, 2005.<ref name="assent">{{Cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/labrador-inuit-land-claim-passes-last-hurdle-1.559601 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070321084602/https://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/06/24/labrador-inuit-050624.html |title=Labrador Inuit land claim passes last hurdle |publisher=CBC News |date=June 24, 2005 |access-date=April 22, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-date=March 21, 2007}}</ref><ref name="cabinet">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.545347 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070501130528/http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2005/12/01/inuit-rule20051201.html |title=Labrador's 5,000 Inuit take charge of 'our beautiful land' |publisher=CBC News |date=December 1, 2005 |access-date=April 22, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-date=May 1, 2007}}</ref><ref name="LILCA">{{Cite web |url=http://www.laa.gov.nl.ca/laa/land_claims/index.html |title=Land Claims |publisher=Department of Labrador and Aboriginal Affairs, [[Government of Newfoundland and Labrador]] |access-date=April 23, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100511010327/http://www.laa.gov.nl.ca/laa/land_claims/index.html |archive-date=May 11, 2010}}</ref> The settlement area comprises the majority of Labrador's North Coast, while the land-use area also includes land farther to the interior and in Central Labrador. Nain is the administrative centre.
[[File:Kiglapait Mountains, Labrador.jpg|thumb|Icy Labrador coast and [[Kiglapait Mountains]] on the north coast of Labrador]]

===Central Labrador===
[[Central Labrador]] extends from the shores of [[Lake Melville]] into the interior. It contains the [[Churchill River (Atlantic)|Churchill River]], the largest river in Labrador and one of the largest in Canada. The hydroelectric dam at [[Churchill Falls]] is the second-largest underground power station in the world. Most of the supply is bought by [[Hydro-Québec]] under a long-term contract. The [[Lower Churchill Project]] will develop the remaining potential of the river and supply it to provincial consumers. Known as "the heart of the Big Land", the area's population comprises people from all groups and regions of Labrador.

Central Labrador is also home to [[Happy Valley-Goose Bay]]. Once a refuelling point for plane convoys to Europe during [[World War II]], [[CFB Goose Bay]] is now operated as a [[NATO]] tactical flight training site.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/natos-invasion-air-combat-training-and-its-impact-innu |title=NATO's Invasion: Air Combat Training and its Impact on the Innu |date=December 1986 |website=culturalsurvival.org |access-date=2022-01-07 |archive-date=2022-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107005835/https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/natos-invasion-air-combat-training-and-its-impact-innu |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/when-outrage-scarce-commodity-low-flying-maneuvers-over |title=When Outrage Is A Scarce Commodity: Low-flying Maneuvers over Innu lands in Labrador |date=December 2000 |website=culturalsurvival.org |access-date=2022-01-07 |archive-date=2022-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107005830/https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/when-outrage-scarce-commodity-low-flying-maneuvers-over |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Gaudi |first1=John |title=New children's book is based on Innu protests of low-level flying in Labrador |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nutauis-cap-innu-protests-low-level-flying-1.5391228 |publisher=CBC News |date=Dec 14, 2019 |access-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-date=January 7, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220107005829/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/nutauis-cap-innu-protests-low-level-flying-1.5391228 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Swardson |first1=Anne |title=Indians in Labrador Press for End to Low-Level Flight Training |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/03/17/indians-in-labrador-press-for-end-to-low-level-flight-training/e2f06fa6-9a23-4b41-8390-6f1bccbb8a75/ |newspaper=Washington Post |access-date=Nov 27, 2020 |date=March 17, 1994 |archive-date=November 4, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201104231309/https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/1994/03/17/indians-in-labrador-press-for-end-to-low-level-flight-training/e2f06fa6-9a23-4b41-8390-6f1bccbb8a75/ |url-status=live }}</ref> It was an alternate landing zone for the United States' [[Space Shuttle]].<ref name="STSCanada">{{cite web|title=Transport Canada NASA Space Shuttle Emergency Landing Site Contingency Plan |url=http://www.tc.gc.ca/Publications/en/TP12952/PDF/HR/TP12952E.pdf|publisher=Transport Canada|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130517012846/http://www.tc.gc.ca/Publications/EN/TP12952/PDF/HR/TP12952E.PDF|archivedate=17 May 2013}}</ref> Other major communities in the area are [[North West River, Newfoundland and Labrador|North West River]]<ref>{{cite book |last1=Watts |first1=Beatrice |title=Cable Car of North River & Sheshatshit |date=1984 |publisher=Them Days (booklet) |pages=8}}</ref> and the large [[Innu]] [[Indian reserve|reserve]] known as [[Sheshatshiu]].<ref name="Reserve Creation at Sheshatshiu">{{cite web |url=https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100018929/1100100018930 |title=Reserve Creation at Sheshatshiu |date=25 May 2021 |publisher=Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada |access-date=7 January 2022 |archive-date=14 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014042429/https://www.aadnc-aandc.gc.ca/eng/1100100018929/1100100018930 |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Western Labrador===
[[File:Open_pit_iron_mine,_Labrador.jpg|right|thumb|Open pit [[Iron Ore Company of Canada|iron mine]] in Labrador West]]
The highlands above the Churchill Falls were once an ancient hunting ground for the [[Innu]] First Nations and settled trappers of Labrador. After the construction of the hydroelectric dam at Churchill Falls in 1970, the [[Smallwood Reservoir]] has flooded much of the old hunting land—submerging several grave sites and trapping cabins in the process.<ref>{{cite web |title=Churchill River |url=http://www.cangeoeducation.ca/resources/rivers_of_canada/churchill_river/default.asp |website=Canadian Geographic Education |access-date=21 July 2019 |archive-date=1 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200201124628/http://www.cangeoeducation.ca/resources/rivers_of_canada/churchill_river/default.asp |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Western Labrador is also home to the [[Iron Ore Company of Canada]], which operates a large iron ore mine in [[Labrador City]]. Together with the small community of [[Wabush]], the two towns are known as "Labrador West".<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.labradorwest.com/default.php?display=cid160 |title=Labrador West<!-- Bot generated title --> |access-date=2009-04-15 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110527143220/http://www.labradorwest.com/default.php?display=cid160 |archive-date=2011-05-27 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===South Coast===
====NunatuKavut====
From Hamilton Inlet to [[Cape St. Charles]]/[[St. Lewis, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. Lewis]], [[NunatuKavut]] is the territory of the [[NunatuKavummiut]] or Central-Southern Labrador Inuit (formerly known as the Labrador [[Métis]]).<ref name="unveiling_nunatukavut">{{cite web |url=http://www.nunatukavut.ca/home/files/pg/unveiling_nunatukavut.pdf |title=Unveiling Nunatukavut |first1=D. Bruce |last1=Clarke |first2=Gregory E. |last2=Mitchell |date=2010 |website=NunatuKavut Community Council |access-date=March 28, 2020 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190328075057/http://www.nunatukavut.ca/home/files/pg/unveiling_nunatukavut.pdf |archive-date=March 28, 2019}}</ref> It includes portions of Central and Western Labrador, but more NunatuKavummiut reside in its South Coast portion: it is peppered with tiny Inuit fishing communities, of which [[Cartwright, Newfoundland and Labrador|Cartwright]] is the largest.

====The Labrador Straits====
From Cape Charles to the Quebec/Labrador coastal border, the Straits is known for its Labrador sea grass (as is NunatuKavut) and the multitude of icebergs that pass by the coast via the [[Labrador Current]].
[[File:Red Bay, Labrador, 2021.jpg|thumb|[[Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador|Red Bay]], Labrador]]
[[Red Bay, Newfoundland and Labrador|Red Bay]] is known as one of the best examples of a preserved 16th-century [[Basque people|Basque]] whaling station. It is also the location of four 16th-century Spanish galleons. The [[lighthouse]] at [[Point Amour Lighthouse|Point Amour]] is the second-largest lighthouse in Canada. [[MV Kamutik]], a passenger ferry between the mainland and [[St. Barbe, Newfoundland and Labrador|St. Barbe]] on the island of [[Newfoundland (island)|Newfoundland]], is based in [[Blanc Sablon, Quebec]], near the Labrador border.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2019-02-25 |title=MV Apollo crashes into Quebec dock just weeks after it left Labrador |work=[[Canadian Broadcasting Corporation]] |url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mv-apollo-damaged-godbout-1.5032969 |access-date=2022-01-07 |archive-date=2021-11-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211113071219/https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/mv-apollo-damaged-godbout-1.5032969 |url-status=live }}</ref> [[L'Anse-au-Loup]] is the largest town on the Labrador Straits.<ref name="cp16">{{cite web |title=L'Anse au Loup, T [Census subdivision], Newfoundland and Labrador and Canada [Country] (table) Census Profile |url=http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/census-recensement/2016/dp-pd/prof/details/page.cfm?Lang=E&Geo1=CSD&Code1=1010002&Geo2=PR&Code2=01&Data=Count&SearchText=L%27Anse%20au%20Loup&SearchType=Begins&SearchPR=01&TABID=1&B1=All |website=2016 Census |publisher=Statistics Canada |access-date=27 February 2018 |language=en}}</ref> [[L'Anse-au-Clair]] is a small town on the Labrador side of the border.

===Time zones of Labrador===
Most of Labrador (from [[Cartwright, Newfoundland and Labrador|Cartwright]] north and west) uses [[Atlantic Standard Time Zone|Atlantic Time]] (UTC−4 in winter, UTC−3 in summer). The south eastern tip nearest Newfoundland uses [[Newfoundland Standard Time Zone|Newfoundland Time]] (UTC−3:30 in winter, UTC−2:30 in summer) to stay co-ordinated with the more populous part of the province.

===Climate of Labrador===
{{further|Geography of Newfoundland and Labrador}}
Most of Labrador has a [[subarctic climate]] ([[Köppen climate classification|Dfc]]), but northern Labrador has a [[Tundra|tundra climate]] (ET) and Happy Valley - Goose Bay has a [[Humid continental climate|humid continental]] (Dfb) microclimate. Summers are typically cool to mild across Labrador and very rainy, and usually last from late June to the end of August. Autumn is generally short, lasting only a couple of weeks and is typically cool and cloudy. Winters are long, cold, and extremely snowy, due to the [[Icelandic Low]]. Springtime most years does not arrive until late April, with the last snow fall usually falling during early June. Labrador is a very cloudy place, with sunshine levels staying relatively low during spring and summer due to the amount of rain and clouds, before sharply dropping off during September as winter draws nearer.{{Citation needed|date=August 2022}}

===Natural features===
Labrador is home to a number of flora and fauna species. Most of the Upper Canadian and Lower Hudsonian [[mammal]]ian species are found in Labrador.<ref>''The American Naturalist'' (1898) Essex Institute, American Society of Naturalists</ref> Notably the [[Polar bear]] ({{Lang|la|Ursus maritimus}}) reaches the southeast of Labrador on its seasonal movements.<ref>C. Michael Hogan (2008) [https://web.archive.org/web/20081224205716/http://globaltwitcher.auderis.se/artspec_information.asp?thingid=36084 ''Polar Bear: Ursus maritimus'', Globaltwitcher.com, ed. N. Stromberg]</ref>