The Arctic Archipelago, also known as the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, is an archipelago lying to the north of the Canadian continental mainland, excluding Greenland (an autonomous territory of Denmark, by itself, much larger than the combined area of the archipelago) and Iceland (an independent country) Situated in the northern extremity of North America and covering about 1,424,500 km2 (550,000 sq mi), this group of 36,563 islands, surrounded by the Arctic Ocean, comprises much of Northern Canada, predominately Nunavut and the Northwest Territories.

[4] The archipelago is showing some effects of climate change,[5][6] with some computer estimates determining that melting there will contribute 3.5 cm (1.4 in) to the rise in sea levels by 2100.

[9][failed verification] Disagreement over the passages' status has raised Canadian concerns about environmental enforcement, national security, and general sovereignty.

The various islands are separated from each other and the continental mainland by a series of waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passage.

The climate of the islands is Arctic, and the terrain consists of tundra except in mountainous regions.