Queen Elizabeth Islands

Queen Elizabeth Islands, island group in the Baffin Region of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut Territory, northern Canada, in the Arctic Ocean, west of Greenland. The largest of the numerous islands in the group, in descending order of land area, are Ellesmere, Devon, Axel Heiberg, Melville, Bathurst, and Prince Patrick. The islands, altogether 425,000 sq km (164,000 sq mi) in area, were named in 1953 for Elizabeth II of England. First sighted by Europeans in 1616, the Queen Elizabeth Islands were not fully explored and charted until the 19th century.