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'Coats Island' lies at the northern end of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. At 5,498 km² (2,123 square miles) in size, it is the 107th largest island in the world, and Canada's 24th largest island. As there are no permanent settlements, it is also the largest uninhabited island in the northern hemisphere south of the Arctic circle. It was the last home of the Sadlermiut people who are widely believed to represent the Dorset culture.
'Coats Island' is 130 km long. It reaches a maximum elevation of 185 m above sea level. This high point occurs along the rocky northern perimeter between Cape Pembroke and Cape Prefontaine. The underlying rocks in this area are Precambrian metamorphics. Less than 5% of the island is more than 100 m above sea level. The southern half of the island is primarily low-lying muskeg and made up of Palaeozoic sedimentary rocks, such as limestone and sandstone.
Since 1920, 'Coats Island' has been designated a reindeer reserve. After caribou were extirpated from nearby Southampton Island, the Coats herd was used to reestablish the Southampton herd. It is also known for its population of thick-billed murre. Two colonies of 30 000 birds occur along the cliffs at the rocky northern end. There are also significant concentrations of walrus at walrus haulouts at the base of cliffs or on offshore islands at the northern end of the island (one each at Cape Pembroke and Cape Prefontaine). These are visited regularly by Inuit from the hamlet at Coral Harbour, on Southampton Island, for harvesting.
The island received its name from William Coats, a sea captain for the Hudson's Bay Company. He visited the area periodically between 1727 and 1751. The area was confirmed to be an island by American whalers, who began visiting the area in the 1860s. A Hudson's Bay Company trading post was maintained on the island from August 1920 to August 1924, and a number of Inuit families lived on the island during that period, some of whom had been brought from Baffin Island on boats.