Moresby Island is a large island (3399.39 km2) that forms part of the Haida Gwaii archipelago (formerly known as Queen Charlotte Islands) in British Columbia, Canada, located at 53.07889°N, -132.12778°W It is separated by the narrow Skidegate Channel from the other principal island of the group to the north, Graham Island. Gwaii Haanas National Park Reserve and Haida Heritage Site includes Moresby and other islands. The island, together with numerous nearby smaller islands and islets in the southern archipelago, is defined by Statistics Canada as North Coast E, Regional district electoral area, with a population of 325 as of the 2010 census. Almost all of its population, 310 people, resided in the unincorporated community of Sandspit, on the northeast corner of Moresby. The total land area of the electoral area is 3,408.85 km2. Moresby Island is the 175th largest island in the world, and the 32nd largest island in Canada. On October 27, 2012, the Haida Gwaii earthquake of magnitude 7.7 (the strongest earthquake in Canada since the 1949 Queen Charlotte Islands earthquake) was epicentred at a depth of 17.5 km under the island.

Name

Moresby Island is named for Rear Admiral Fairfax Moresby of the Royal Navy, as is the smaller Moresby Island in the Gulf Islands. The traditional name in the Haida language is Gwaii Haanas, which is the source of the national park name.

Climate

Climate is from Sandspit Airport. The island experiences an oceanic (Köppen Cfb) with a rainy season in the colder months, typical for the Pacific Northwest. It is very warm for its high latitude in North America, and its annual average temperature is the same as Port Hardy, which is located almost 3 degrees further south.