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Northwest Territories is located in northwestern North America,
and borders Yukon (west), British Columbia (south-west), Alberta
(south), Saskatchewan (south-east), and Nunavut (east). Boreal forests
in the south fade to barren tundra in the north. The short growing
season makes commercial agriculture impossible. Native peoples make
up nearly half the sparse population. The details of their origins
and migration routes are unclear, but it is most likely that they
came to Alaska from Asia across the land bridge. Great Slave Lake,
rich in whitefish and trout, is the major center for fishing.
Population
& Geography
Total
Area: 1,346,106 sq km / 519,734 sq mi1
Population:
43,800 (2010)1
Capital
City: Yellowknife
Largest
Metro Areas: N/A1
Economy
GDP:
$4.124 billion CAD (2009)1
GDP
per capita: $94,155
CAD (2009)1
Unemployment
Rate: 10.4% (2006)1
Government
Premier:
Floyd Roland (2011)2
Legislative
Assembly: 19 Independents (including Premier) (2011)2
Other Information
Federal Representation:
1 New Democrat (2011)3
Origin
of Name: Originally the term was applied to all lands
north and west of Lake Superior. From 1870 to 1905, North-West
Territories was used for the region formed from the union of Rupert's
Land and the North-Western Territory.4
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Sources:
- Statistics Canada
- Legislative Assembly of the NWT
- Parliament of Canada
- Geographical Names of Canada
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