UNGA'VA. Au unorganized Territory of the Dominion of Canada occupying the peninsula of Labrador. with the exception of the southern por tion, which belongs to Quebec, and the Atlantic coast region, which constitutes the Newfound land Territory of Labrador (Map: Canada, Q 5). The boundary of the latter Territory is un determined, but that of Quebec is formed by the East Main and Hamilton rivers. The area of Ungava is e:stimated at 456.000 square miles. Ungava occupies of the interior plateau of Labra dor a tableland having an average elevation of 1000 to 2000 feet, and composed almost wholly of Archaean gneisses and granites, with some an cient Paleozoic, mainly Silurian, sedimentary rocks. In the northwest the laud sinks to an altitude of 500 feet, and the shores of Ungava Bay, as well as portions of the Hudson Bay coast, are low. At Cape Jones, at the entrance to James Bay, and at several other places the plateau approaches the coast. The surface of the plateau is an undulating plain scoured by glacial action. so that the rounded granite surfaces are exposed, surrounded by marshy depressions. Post glacial river systems have not yet developed defi nitely, and the whole interior is a maze of surface streams and shallow lakes, the latter being so numerous that fully one-third of the total area is covered with water. The streams. however, finally collect. in a number of main rivers, which have cut deep valleys in the edge of the plateau, through which they descend to the coast by falls and rapids.
In the southern part of Ungava are large forests of spruce and birch extending northward in the valleys as far as the fifty-seventh parallel, north of which the country is treeless, though there is an area of scrub where gooseberries, cur rants, huckleberries, and cranberries are abun dant. The vegetation in the northern half con sists of sphagnum bogs with sedges and Arctic plants, followed in the extreme north by tundras, in which lichens, especially reindeer moss, are predominant. Large animals are not numerous, though deer inhabit the southern for ests, and reindeer the northern tundras, while foxes, otters. and beavers are also found. Large flocks of wild geese and other water fowl fre quent the lake region, which is also a prolific breeding place fo• mosquitoes. The climate of the interior is rigorous. The lakes and streams are frozen from October to .June, and the tem perature Sometimes falls to —60° F. The mean temperature of the short summer is Large areas of iron ore are known to exist, and there are indications of gold, copper. and nickel. The pop ulation in 1901 was 5113, almost wholly of roving hands of Indians, who live by hunting. They are partly civilized, and many of them are Chris tians. Ungava was constituted a Territory in 1897, and is administered by the Dominion Gov ernment. The interior was practically unknown until its exploration in 1892-94.