Coordinates: 64°16′N 119°11′W / 64.267°N 119.183°W / 64.267; -119.183

Northwest Territories Territoires du Nord-Ouest (French) Nunatsiaq (Inuinnaqtun) ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ (Inuktitut)
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: (No official motto)[1]
Capital	Yellowknife
Largest city	Yellowknife
Largest metro	Yellowknife
Official languages	Chipewyan, Cree, English, French, Gwich’in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, North Slavey, South Slavey, Tłįchǫ[2]
Demonym	Northwest Territorian[3]
Government
Type
Commissioner	George Tuccaro[4]
Premier	Bob McLeod (Consensus government, no party affiliations)
Legislature	Legislative Assembly of the Northwest Territories
Federal representation	In Canadian parliament
House seats	1 of 308 (0.3%)
Senate seats	1 of 105 (1%)
Confederation	July 15, 1870 (Hudson's Bay Company cedes territory to Canada) (6th)
Area [5]	Ranked 3rd
Total	1,346,106 km2 (519,734 sq mi)
Land	1,183,085 km2 (456,792 sq mi)
Water (%)	163,021 km2 (62,943 sq mi) (12.1%)
Proportion of Canada	13.5% of 9,984,670 km2
Population	Ranked 11th
Total (2011)	41,462 [6]
Density (2011)	0.04 /km2 (0.10 /sq mi)
GDP	Ranked 11th
Total (2006)	C$4.103 billion[7]
Per capita	C$76,000 (1st)
Abbreviations
Postal	NT
ISO 3166-2	CA-NT
Time zone	UTC-7
Postal code prefix	X0, X1 (Yellowknife)
Flower	Mountain avens
Tree	Tamarack Larch
Bird	Gyrfalcon
Website	www.gov.nt.ca
Rankings include all provinces and territories

The Northwest Territories (NWT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, TNO) is one of three federal territories of Canada. The Northwest Territories entered the Canadian Confederation July 15, 1870, but the current borders were formed April 1, 1999, with the creation of Nunavut.

It had a population of 41,462 as of the 2011 census, showing little change from the 2006 census.^[6]

In 1967, as a result of recommendations by the Carrothers Commission, Yellowknife became the capital.

While neighbouring Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is mostly boreal forest (taiga), although about half of the territory is north of the tree line.

Etymology[link]

The name is descriptive, adopted by the British government during the colonial era to indicate where it lay in relation to Rupert's Land. It is shortened from North-Western Territory (see History). In Inuktitut, the Northwest Territories are referred to as ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ (Nunatsiaq), "beautiful land."^{[citation needed]}

There was some discussion of changing the name of the Northwest Territories after the splitting off of Nunavut, possibly to a term from an Aboriginal language. One proposal was "Denendeh" (an Athabaskan language word meaning "our land"), as advocated by the former premier Stephen Kakfwi, among others. One of the most popular proposals for a new name – one to name the territory "Bob" – began as a prank, but for a while it was at or near the top in the public-opinion polls.^[8][9]

In the end a poll conducted prior to division showed that strong support remained to keep the name "Northwest Territories". This name arguably became more appropriate following division than it had been when the territories actually extended far into Canada's north-central and northeastern areas.^[10][11]

Geography[link]

Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south. It has a land area of 1,183,085 km² (456,792 sq mi).^[5]

Geographical features include Great Bear Lake, the largest lake entirely within Canada,^[12] and Great Slave Lake, the deepest body of water in Canada at 614 m (2,014 ft), as well as the Mackenzie River and the canyons of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Territorial islands in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago include Banks Island, Borden Island, Prince Patrick Island, and parts of Victoria Island and Melville Island. Its highest point is Mount Nirvana near the border with Yukon at an elevation of 2,773 m (9,098 ft).

Climate[link]

Ice road on Great Slave Lake, Northwest Territories, 2009

The Northwest Territories reaches for over 1,300,000 km² (500,000 sq mi) so there is a large climate variant from south to north. The southern part of the territory (most of the mainland portion) has a subarctic climate while the islands and northern coast have a polar climate.

Summers in the north are short and cool, with daytime highs in the mid teens, and lows in the single degrees. Winters are long and harsh, daytime highs in the mid −20 °C (−4 °F) and lows around −40 °C (−40 °F). Extremes are common with summer highs in the south reaching 36 °C (97 °F) and lows reaching into the negatives. In winter in the south it is not uncommon for the temperatures to reach −40 °C (−40 °F), but can also reach the low teens during the day. In the north temperatures can reach highs of 30 °C (86 °F), and lows can reach into the low negatives.

In winter in the north it is not uncommon for the temperatures to reach −50 °C (−58 °F) but can also reach the single digits during the day. Thunderstorms are not rare in the south. In the north they are very rare, but do occur. Tornadoes are extremely rare but have happened with the most notable one happening just outside of Yellowknife that destroyed a communications tower. The Territory has a fairly dry climate due to the mountains in the west.

About half of the territory is above the tree line. There are no trees in most of the eastern areas of the territory, or the north islands.^[13]

History[link]

North-Western Territory in 1859

Proclamation concerning the admission of Rupert's Land and the North-West Territories to Canada

The present-day territory was created in June 1870, when the Hudson's Bay Company transferred Rupert's Land and North-Western Territory to the government of Canada. This immense region comprised all of non-confederation Canada except British Columbia, the coast of the Great Lakes, the Saint Lawrence River valley and the southern third of Quebec, the Maritimes, Newfoundland, and the Labrador coast. It also excluded the Arctic Islands except the southern half of Baffin Island; these remained under direct British claim until 1880.^[15]

After the transfer, the territories were gradually whittled away. The province of Manitoba was created on July 15, 1870, a tiny square around Winnipeg, and then enlarged in 1881 to a rectangular region composing the modern province's south. By the time British Columbia joined Confederation on July 20, 1871, it had already (1866) been granted the portion of North-Western Territory south of 60 degrees north and west of 120 degrees west, an area that had comprised most of the Stickeen Territories. In 1882, Regina in the District of Assiniboia became the territorial capital; after Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905, Regina became the provincial capital of Saskatchewan.

In 1876, the District of Keewatin, at the centre of the territory, was separated from it. In 1882 and again in 1896, the remaining portion was divided into the following districts (corresponding to the following modern-day areas):

• Alberta (southern Alberta);
• Assiniboia (southern Saskatchewan);
• Athabasca (northern Alberta and Saskatchewan);
• Franklin (the Arctic islands and Boothia and Melville Peninsulas);
• Mackenzie (mainland NWT and western Nunavut);
• Saskatchewan (central Saskatchewan);
• Ungava (modern-day northern Quebec and inland Labrador, as well as an offshore area in Hudson Bay);
• Yukon (modern Yukon).

Captain John Henry Lefroy winter 1843/44

Keewatin was returned to the Northwest Territories in 1905.

In the meantime, the Province of Ontario was enlarged northwestward in 1882. Quebec was also extended northwards in 1898, and the Yukon was made a separate territory in that same year in order to deal with the Klondike Gold Rush, and also to remove the NWT's government from the burden of administering the sudden boom of population, economic activity, and the influx of non-Canadians.

The provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan were created in 1905, and Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec acquired the last of their modern territories from the NWT in 1912. This left only the districts of Mackenzie, Franklin (which absorbed the remnants of Ungava in 1920), and Keewatin. In 1925, the boundaries of the NWT were extended all the way to the North Pole on the sector principle, vastly expanding its territory onto the northern ice cap. The reduced Northwest Territories was not represented in the Canadian House of Commons from 1907 until 1947, when the electoral district of Yukon—Mackenzie River was created. This riding only included the District of Mackenzie. The rest of the Northwest Territories had no representation in the House of Commons until 1962, when the Northwest Territories electoral district was created in recognition of the Inuit having been given the right to vote in 1953.

In 1912, the Parliament of Canada made the official name of these territories the Northwest Territories, dropping all hyphenated forms of it. Between 1925 and 1999, the Northwest Territories covered a land area of 3,439,296 km² (1,327,920 sq mi) – larger than that of India.

On April 1, 1999, the eastern three-fifths of the Northwest Territories (including all of the District of Keewatin and much of that of Mackenzie and Franklin) became a separate Canadian territory named Nunavut.

Demography[link]

The NWT is one of two jurisdictions in Canada, Nunavut is the other, where Aboriginal peoples are in the majority with 50.3% of the population.^[16]

Slavey girls, Mackenzie River, Northwest Territories, 1899

According to the 2006 Canadian census the 10 major ethnic groups were:^[17]

Population of the Northwest Territories since 1871^[18]