Kugaaruk, formerly known as Pelly Bay until 3 December 1999, is located on the shore of Pelly Bay, just off the Gulf of Boothia, Simpson Peninsula, Kitikmeot, in Canada's Nunavut territory. Access is by air by the Kugaaruk Airport, by annual supply sealift, and by sea ice. Kugaaruk means "little stream", the traditional name of the brook that flows through the hamlet. Near the hamlet is CAM-4, a North Warning System site that was once part of the Distant Early Warning Line.