BARREN GROUNDS

also called Barren Lands, vast sub-Arctic prairie (tundra) region of northern mainland Canada lying principally in the territory of Nunavut but also including the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories. It extends westward from Hudson Bay to the Great Slave and Great Bear lakes, northward to the Arctic Ocean, and southward to latitude 59 N along the Hudson Bay coastal plain and consists of a low, glaciated, treeless plain lying below 1,000 feet (300 metres) in elevation. Its surface is covered with grasses, mosses, and lichens, interspersed with granitic outcrops, and dotted with innumerable lakes and streams, including the Coppermine, Back, Dubawnt, Kazan, and Thelon rivers. The ground is permanently frozen to within a few inches of the surface, creating, in many areas, vast stretches of mosquito- and fly-infested swamp during the summer thaw. Caribou, musk-oxen, foxes, and bears inhabit the Barren Grounds, large areas of which are protected by Queen Maud Gulf Bird Sanctuary and Thelon Wildlife Sanctuary. Small numbers of Inuit, living in the coastal areas, are the only human inhabitants. The Barren Grounds region was first explored by the Englishman Samuel Hearne during his 176972 expedition.