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Northwest Territories
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The area that is now the Northwest Territories and Nunavut was part of the vast lands sold by the Hudson's Bay Company to the new Canadian confederation in 1870. Some of those lands were added to the provinces of Quebec and Ontario. The province of Manitoba was carved from them in 1870, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, all south of 60°N. The Yukon Territory had become separate in 1898. The boundaries of the Northwest Territories were then set in 1912 and remained fixed until the creation of Nunavut in 1999.
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At the beginning of the 20th century the Northwest Territories was the homeland of Indians, Métis, and Inuit. These three indigenous peoples lived on the land, hunting and trapping. By the middle of the 20th century... the region had become a resource hinterland. In order to extract its natural resources the Northwest Territories needed to develop a transportation system.
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Unlike provincial governments and the Yukon, the Government of the Northwest Territories does not have political parties, except for the period between 1898 and 1905. It is a consensus government called the Legislative Assembly. This group is composed of one member elected from each of the nineteen constituencies. After each general election, the new parliament elects a premier and speaker by secret ballot. Seven MLAs are ... chosen as cabinet ministers, with the remainder forming the opposition. The territory's most recent general election was on October 1, 2007.
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The Northwest Territories has an area, as of April 1999, of 1,299,070 sq km (501,441 sq mi). Previously the largest political subdivision in Canada, Northwest Territories now ranks third after Nunavut and Quebec. Most of the territory lies on the Canadian mainland, partly within the Arctic Circle, but it includes a number of islands in the north. Four of these (Victoria Island, Melville Island, Mackenzie King Island, and Borden Island) are shared with Nunavut. The Northwest Territories is sparsely settled and most land is owned by the federal government.
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Within the new boundaries, the overall population density of Northwest Territories was only about 1 person for every 30 sq km (about 1 per 11 sq mi) of land area. The population of the territory in 2001 was comparatively diverse, with 11,225 North American Indians, 4005 Inuit, and some 3680 Métis (persons of mixed aboriginal and European ancestry) living there. English was the lone mother tongue of about 76% of the population; only about 2% had French as their sole first language. In addition to the three main religious groups, Roman Catholic (with 16,940 members), Anglican (5510) and United Church of Canada (2230), 180 persons identified themselves as Muslim. More than 40% of the population lives in Yellowknife, the territorial capital.
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Agriculture in the Northwest Territories is virtually impossible except for limited cultivation south of the Mackenzie River region. Trapping, the region's oldest industry, ranks second after mining. A thriving commercial fishing industry, based on whitefish and lake trout, is centered on the village of Hay River, on Great Slave Lake. Minerals are now the Territories' most valuable natural resource. Oil is pumped and refined at Tulita (formerly Fort Norman) and Norman Wells on the Mackenzie River; copper is extracted on the Coppermine River; and diamonds and gold are being produced in increasing quantities. The region ... has tungsten, silver, cadmium, and nickel.
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Northwest Territories