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A Look at the Provinces,Part XII:Northwest Territories & Nunavut

© David Newman

This is the twelfth and last article in the series. Since I've already written an article on Nunavut and it is hard to find information for the NWT and Nunavut separately I will combine them. The Former North West Territories is made up of the North West Territories and of Nunavut. It is made up of most of the artic, except Yukon and Alaska (and Greenland) and includes all islands in the Hudson's Bay. It has an area of 3,426,320 square kilometres and has a population of 57,649 people. The Capital was Yellownife and remains so for the NWT. Nunavut's Capital is Iqualuit (formerly known as Forbisher Bay). It joined confederation when bought by the Canadian government in 1870.

The Northwest Territories and Nunavut lie north of 60. Its Natural region is the mainly the Canadian Shield. Like Yukon, it is really, really cold.

In the 16th century explorers wanted to find the Northwest Passage and of locating the North Pole. This led to the explorations of the Northwest Territories, mainly from the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. The monopoly of the North West Territories was given to the Hudson's Bay Company and in 1870 they had to sell their lands to the Canadian Government. Instantly, the province of Manitoba was made from a small part of the huge Territories. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush, the Yukon Territory spilt from the Northwest Territories. The Northwest Territories have become smaller and smaller as time passed. In 1905, both Saskatchewan and Alberta split from the Northwest Territories. In 1912, the boundaries we've had until Nunavut split were established. It was only after a World War and the expansion of the mining industry that the North West Territories got a capital and their own government. Yellowknife was chosen as the capital in 1967. After much fighting from the Inuit, the Northwest Territories were smallerised (I know that is not a word) once again. In April of 1999, the Territory of Nunavut (Our Land) was created.

The economy of the Northwest Territories and of Nunavut relies on mining. Among the main minerals are zinc, lead, gold, silver.

The Inuit formed about 50% of the old Northwest Territories. In the Nunavut, 85% of the population is inuit. The little Europeans in the Northwest Territories live in Yellowknife or in the other larger cities. The Federal Government, represented by a Commissioner, administers the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Two members represent the former Northwest Territories. One for the New Northwest Territories and one for Nunavut.

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