<P> The Northwest Passage (abbreviated as NWP) is, from the European and northern Atlantic point of view, the sea route to the Pacific Ocean through the Arctic Ocean, along the northern coast of North America via waterways through the Canadian Arctic Archipelago . The eastern route along the Arctic coasts of Norway and Siberia is accordingly called Northeast Passage (NEP). </P> <P> The various islands of the archipelago are separated from one another and from the Canadian mainland by a series of Arctic waterways collectively known as the Northwest Passages or Northwestern Passages . </P>

A sea route from the atlantic to the pacific that passed through or around north america