Northwest Territories
Territory of Canada extending into the Arctic Circle, comprising the
mainland lying north of the sixtieth parallel (latitude 60º north),
bounded by Yukon Territory in the west and Hudson Bay in the east, and
the islands between the Canadian mainland and the North Pole, including
those in Hudson Bay, James Bay, and the Hudson Strait.
The creation of an Inuit semi-autonomous homeland, Nunavut, extending
over 1,900,000 sq mi/733,590 sq mi in Northwest Territories (20% of
Canada), was agreed in a regional referendum in 1992 and is scheduled
to come into existence in 1999. The Inuit are to own 353,160 sq km/
136,493 sq mi of the territory outright, and share control over the
remaining Crown Lands with the Federal Government
Area:
3,426,300 sq km/1,322,552 sq mi
Capital:
Yellowknife
Towns and Cities:
Fort Smith, Hay River, Norman Wells, Inuvik, Port Radium, Fort Laird,
Fort McPherson
Physical:
Arctic Circle; Ellesmere Island; Victoria Island; Baffin Island; Hudson's
Bay; Canadian Shield; Mackenzie and Big rivers; Great Slave and Great
Bear lakes; Miles Canyon
Features:
Nahanni, Ellesmere Island, Aulaavik, and Auyuittuq national parks
Products:
Oil, natural gas, zinc, lead, gold, fur, fish
Population:
(1996) 64,600 (39,670 in western Northwest Territories, 24,730 in Nunavut);
over 50% indigenous peoples: Inuvialuit, Slavey, Dene, Métis, Inuit
History:
The area was the northern part of Rupert's Land, bought by the Canadian
government from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1869. An act of 1952 placed
the Northwest Territories under a commissioner acting in Ottawa under
the Ministry of Northern Affairs and Natural Resources. Yellowknife
became capital in 1967 when the seat of government was transferred.
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