We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a community such as Sanikiluaq to various places of note, such as Parliament Hill.
With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<1> beginning in Sanikiluaq and extending to:
Iqaluit, which is the Territorial Capital of Nunavut, lies 617 miles [993 km]<1> to the north northeast (NNE).
The National Capital at Parliament Hill (Ottawa, ON) is 782 miles [1,258.5 km] to the south southeast (SSE).
The shortest distance<2> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 5,233 miles [8,421.7 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<3>
The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 5,994 miles [9,646.4 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<4>
The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 3,933 miles [6,329.5 km] and it lies to the east northeast (ENE).<5>
Footnotes ...
<1>
Our distances are not driving distances, but are calculated as a 'straight-line' (or point-to-point) distance. A straight line distance ignores things like rivers, canyons, lakes, et cetera - it's truly a line from Point A (ie- Sanikiluaq) to Point B.Our distance measurements begin at a specific point in Sanikiluaq. The point we use is located at these GPS coordinates - Latitude: 56.5437, Longitude: -79.2259
<2>
The shortest line can be visualized by stretching a string on a Globe from Point A to Point B - this is known as a Great Circle Route. Where you might expect the shortest route from Sanikiluaq to the Middle East to be East and South, the Great Circle Route actually lies to the North and East.
<3>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Jerusalem is 307.043 degrees.
<4>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to Mecca is 305.409 degrees.
<5>
The calculated bearing (or angle) to the Vatican is 297.446 degrees.