Iqaluit is home to 7,740 people. Iqaluit of 7,740 people. Iqaluit is considered to be the capital city, the largest and only city in Nunavut. Nunavut.
Iqaluit is a name that translates to “The Place of Many Fish‘ was first established in 1942, during the Second World War. From 1942 to 1987, the city was known as Frobisher Bay, after the bay in which it sits. It was declared the capital city of the newly-formed Nunavut territory Nunavut in 1999 following a referendum held in 1995.
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Iqaluit population growth
The population of Iqaluit has increased rapidly in recent times. A large portion of the new population is not Inuit and this creates tensions and challenges. The majority of the expansion has happened in the years since Iqaluit was declared the capital city of Nunavut in the year 1999.
| Year | Population | Percentage changes |
| 1971 | 2,014 | n/a |
| 1981 | 2,333 | 15.8% |
| 1991 | 3,552 | 52,3% |
| 1996 | 4,220 | 18.8% |
| 2001 | 5,236 | 24.1% |
| 2006 | 6,184 | 18.1% |
| 2011 | 6,699 | 8.3% |
| 2016 | 7,740 | 15.5% |
Iqaluit population density
Iqaluit has an area in the region of 52.5km 2 and according to the population according to the census of 2016, it has a density of 150 people per km 2. In terms of miles square, that’s the equivalent that is 20.27 square miles and an average density of 338 inhabitants per sq mile.
Languages in Iqaluit
In the census of 2016, 45.4 percent of the population living in Iqaluit said that their mother language was Inuktitut.
Additionally, 45.4 percent of the population stated that their primary language was English. French was the primary language of another 4.8 percent of Iqaluit residents.
If asked which languages they used to speak most frequently in their home environment, 69% of respondents said that they were fluent in English, 24.0% reported that they were speaking Inuktitut and 3.4 percent reported that they were fluent in French.
The majority of the people living in Iqaluit are bilingual. Iqaluit can speak English (92.7 percent). Only 1.1 percent of the population is not able to speak English or French.
Race and Ethnicity in Iqaluit
More Inuit residents reside in Iqaluit than in any city in the Canadian city. In all, Iqaluit is home to 3,900 Inuit. In total, 59.4 percent of the population is indigenous. which is comprised of 53.6 percent Inuit, 1.4% First Nations and 1.2 percent Metis.
Another 34.3 percent comprise whites, 3.0 percent are black and 2.2 percent of them are Southeast Asian.
Religion in Iqaluit
Three out of every four residents who live in Iqaluit are Christian In addition, 22.9 percent report that they aren’t affiliated with any other religion.