Princess Royal Island

Princess Royal
Princess Royal Island is located on the Inside Passage to the east of Hecate Strait
Interactive map of Princess Royal
Geography
LocationNorth Coast Archipelago (Central Coast)
Coordinates52°57′00″N 128°50′40″W / 52.95000°N 128.84444°W / 52.95000; -128.84444 (Princess Royal Island)
Area2,294.15 km2 (885.78 sq mi) (2026)
Area rank33rd in Canada & 189th worldwide
Administration
Canada
Province
British Columbia
North Coast
Demographics
Ethnic groupsTsimshian territory

Princess Royal Island is the largest island on the North Coast of British Columbia, Canada. It is located amongst the isolated inlets and islands east of Hecate Strait on the British Columbia Coast. At 2,294.1 km2 (885.8 sq mi), it is the fourth largest island in British Columbia, the 33rd in Canada and 189th worldwide. It was named in 1788 by Captain Charles Duncan, after his ship Princess Royal.

Access and settlements

The island is located in an extremely remote area of British Columbia, 520 km (320 mi) north of Vancouver and 200 km (120 mi) south of Prince Rupert. It is accessible only by boat or air. The Inside Passage ferry and shipping lane runs along its eastern flank, in Princess Royal Channel separating it from the mainland. The island is uninhabited, but used to be home to the community of Surf Inlet, a gold-mining town at the inlet of the same name (though also known as Port Belmont or Belmont), and Butedale, a mining, cannery, fishing and logging town on the island's east coast. The nearest communities today are Klemtu, on Swindle Island and Hartley Bay, on the mainland shore east of Gil Island.

Indian reserves

Indian reserves on, or adjacent to Princess Royal Island are: Gitgaʼat First Nation reserves:

Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nation reserves:

History

Twelve of the seventeen crew of United States Air Force 44-92075 were found alive here in 1950, during the first lost nuclear/Broken Arrow episode of the Cold War. The plane itself flew north after the crew bailed out, crashing on Mount Kologet in Swan Lake Kispiox River Provincial Park, east of the Nass River to the northwest of Hazelton.

Cannery Ruins in Butedale

Geography

The island's northern tip is Trivett Point and its northwestern tip is Kingcome Point. The Canoona River drains the central part of the island, flowing east to the sea from Canoona Lake.

Ecology and environment

The island is classified by the World Wildlife Fund as part of their system's Pacific temperate rainforest ecoregion. In the ecoregion system used by Environment and Climate Change Canada, the island is in the Pacific Maritime Ecozone. In the system of biogeoclimatic zones used by the British Columbia Ministry of Forests, the island is part of the Coastal Western Hemlock zone, after the Tsuga heterophylla. Wildlife on Princess Royal Island includes spirit bears (kermode bears), black bears, grizzly bears, deer, wolves and foxes, and nesting populations of golden eagles, bald eagles, and the endangered marbled murrelet. Marine life around the island includes abundant salmon, elephant seals, orcas and porpoises. Princess Royal Island is a core component of a regional preservationist campaign covering the North and Central Coast, which has been dubbed the Great Bear Rainforest by environmental groups.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Princess Royal Island". Geographical Names Data Base. Natural Resources Canada.
  2. 1 2 "Global Islands (USGS, ESRI, UNEP-WCMC)". 16 March 2026. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  3. 1 2 "Global Islands (USGS, ESRI, UNEP-WCMC) - USGSEsriWCMC GlobalIslandsv3 BigIslands". 16 March 2026. Retrieved 22 July 2026.
  4. ↑ Pacific Coast Islands Archived 2013-01-22 at the Wayback Machine, The Atlas of Canada
  5. ↑ "Princess Royal Island". BC Geographical Names. Government of British Columbia – B.C. Geographical Names Office (BCGNO).
  6. ↑ Reserves, settlements or villages of the Gitgaʼat First Nations at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  7. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Kahas 7 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  8. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Kayel 8 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  9. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Lackzuswadda 9 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  10. ↑ Reserves, settlements or villages of the Kitasoo/Xaixais First Nations at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  11. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Canoona 2 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  12. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Dil-ma-sow 5 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  13. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Kinmakanksk 6 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  14. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Lattkaloup 9 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  15. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Saint Joe 10 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.
  16. ↑ Reserve, settlement or village details for Ulthakoush 11 Reserve at Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada. Retrieved 2 August 2026.