In April 1999, the Northwest Territories was divided in two, with 60 percent of the land being transferred to the new territory of Nunavut in Canada's Eastern Arctic.
Northwest Territories Demographics
The vast territory is now home to more than 43,000 people. Just under half of these individuals live in the capital city of Yellowknife, while the remainder are dispersed into much smaller settlements. Nearly half of the residents of the NWT are of aboriginal descent.The territories' first national park, Aulavik, was established in the Archipelago on Banks Island in 1992. The Canadian Shield makes up the arctic mainland. Canada's oldest rocks (3.96 billion years) were found east of Great Bear Lake.
One year after the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, the Parliament of Canada renamed the "North-West Territories" as the Northwest Territories, dropping all hyphenated forms of it.
NWT highlights include:
Two of the largest freshwater lakes (Great Slave Lake and Great Bear) and river systems (Mackenzie River) in North America are in our backyard. Bison roam free in Wood Buffalo National Park, Canada's largest national park.Nunavut is the largest territory in Canada, and Quebec is the largest province. Yukon is the smallest territory, and Prince Edward Island is the smallest province.
Ten years later the British government transferred the islands of the Arctic archipelago to these territories. At some time in their history, the Northwest Territories have included all of Alberta, Saskatchewan, Yukon, and most of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec.
Martin Frobisher's expeditions in the 1570s were the first recorded visits to the Northwest Territories by a European. In 1610, Henry Hudson, while looking for the Northwest Passage, landed briefly on the western shore of the bay that bears his name.
The Territories are not included in the amending formula used to change Canada's constitution, only the Parliament of Canada and the provinces are. However, in 2015, the NWT underwent “devolution”, and the Federal Government transferred these responsibilities to the Territory.
Northern Canada, colloquially the North, is the vast northernmost region of Canada variously defined by geography and politics. Politically, the term refers to three territories of Canada: Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
Northwest Territories lakes larger than 400 km2 (150 sq mi)
| Lake | Area (including islands) | Altitude |
|---|
| Great Bear Lake | 31,328 km2 (12,096 sq mi) | 156 m (512 ft) |
| Great Slave Lake | 28,568 km2 (11,030 sq mi) | 156 m (512 ft) |
| Lac La Martre | 1,776 km2 (686 sq mi) | 265 m (869 ft) |
| Kasba Lake | 1,341 km2 (518 sq mi) | 336 m (1,102 ft) |
On April 1, 1999, Nunavut separated from the Northwest Territories to become the newest Canadian territory. The creation of Nunavut was the outcome of the largest aboriginal land claims agreement between the Canadian government and the native Inuit people. Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language.
NORTHWEST TERRITORY. Part of the vast domain ceded by Great Britain to the United States in the Treaty of Paris (1783), the Northwest Territory encompassed the area west of Pennsylvania, east of the Mississippi River, and north of the Ohio River to the border with British Canada.
The land of Canada is solely owned by Queen Elizabeth II who is also the head of state. Only 9.7% of the total land is privately owned while the rest is Crown Land. The land is administered on behalf of the Crown by various agencies or departments of the government of Canada.
Living in the Northwest Territories is unlike any other location across Canada. In the NWT, there is always something to keep you busy and there are a myriad of activities to choose from. If you enjoy being outdoors there are activities such as cross country skiing, snowmobiling, ice fishing, canoeing, and hiking.
Northern pilots quickly became well-known heroes as they made travel in the Northwest Territories easier, contributing to the growth of the territory. Over the years, the Northwest Territories has slowly gotten smaller, as pieces of land have been used to form other provinces and territories.
The total current population of Nunavut (as of 2011) is estimated to be around 33,330 people, the vast majority (84%) of whom are Inuit. Of the approximately 28,000 Inuit living in Nunavut, more than half of them reside in the eastern Qikiqtaaluk region of the territory and, remarkably, they are mostly young people.
The provinces are, in alphabetical order: Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.
The NWT includes three main regions: the Arctic Archipelago to the north, the arctic mainland and the Mackenzie Valley area. The arctic mainland, sometimes referred to as the Barren Lands, lies northeast of the treeline, and the Mackenzie Valley area to the west.
It began as a gold mining centre and became the territorial capital in 1967. While most of the settlements in the NWT are significantly smaller than Yellowknife, they are important for various reasons.
Weather and climate
The Northwest Territories' climate is cold but relatively dry, with temperate, sunny summers, in which temperatures rarely rise above 25°C (77°F), and long, bitter winters, during which the thermometer can plunge to -40°C (-40°F), especially north of the Arctic Circle.Yellowknife experiences very cold winters and mild to warm summers. The average temperature in January is around −26 °C (−15 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F) in July. According to Environment Canada, Yellowknife has the sunniest summer in the country, averaging 1,034 hours from June to August.
The Northwest Territories' climate is cold but relatively dry, with temperate, sunny summers, in which temperatures rarely rise above 25°C (77°F), and long, bitter winters, during which the thermometer can plunge to -40°C (-40°F), especially north of the Arctic Circle.
The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces receive their power and authority from the Constitution Act, 1867 (formerly called The British North America Act, 1867), whereas territorial governments have powers delegated to them by the Parliament of Canada.
The main general climatic types of the Pacific Northwest are temperate: both moderate and four seasons, but mountainous and arid climates occupy much of the less inhabited or inland areas of the region. An oceanic climate occurs in most coastal areas, typically between the ocean and high mountain ranges.
History of the Northwest Territories. When Europeans settlers began to divide the continent, the Northwest Territories included much of the sparsely populated regions of what is now western Canada. Over time, the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba were formed out of the territories.
