THE NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

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N.W.T. to get province-like powers -   March 3, 2005

After years of negotiating, the Northwest Territories and the federal government are poised to sign a landmark agreement that will lead to province-like powers for the western Arctic. The deal, anticipated by the end of the month, would not only see the N.W.T. finally collecting revenues from its own resources, but it would transfer sweeping responsibility for programs, staff and money from Ottawa to Yellowknife.

"This is giving (the territory) province-like powers," said David Peterson, the former Ontario premier who heads the federal negotiating team. N.W.T. Premier Joe Handley said negotiators have one more set of meetings scheduled for the end of March to reach an agreement in principle. It would be hard to overestimate the importance of this agreement to the N.W.T. Although diamond mines and energy development have given the territory best-in-Canada growth rates - 79 per cent between 1999 and 2004 - the only benefit the territorial government has seen has been from income taxes. All resource royalties currently flow to Ottawa, which leaves the territory on the hook for infrastructure development and ensuing social problems without being able to reap the revenues.  The Canadian Press

 

Government NWT Homepage Links River, North of Sixty
Yahoo! Northwest Territories: Cities Yellowknife Page
NWT Facts Community Statistics and Profiles
Arts and Crafts Northern News Services Yellowknife 
Landforms & Landscapes Search for the NW Passage
The Search for Franklin  Symbols of the Northwest Terr.

 

  
Nahanni National Park Aurora Research Institute
   
  Frobisher
Thomas James

The location of the Northwest Territories in Canada's north. 

 

nwtmap.jpg (54184 bytes) Map of the NWT. Click to enlarge. nwt_relief.jpg (92750 bytes) Relief Map

 

 

27% of Canada's land mass is north of the tree line

 and consists of tundra and ice caps.

 

 

NWT Climate

Two major climate
zones divide the
Northwest
Territories, the
Arctic and the
sub-Arctic.
Temperatures in the
sub-Arctic fall below
0 degrees Celsius
seven months of the
year. In the Arctic,
the average daily
temperature of the
warmest month of
the year does not
exceed 10 degrees
Celsius.

 Did you know . . .

 

There are eight official languages spoken in the 

Northwest Territories.

There are 42,083 people (July 1,2000) living in the
Northwest Territories. The NWT covers 1,171,918 km2.

The Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) is an electrical
discharge powered by a "generator" composed of the
solar wind and the earth's magnetosphere. It can generate
power as high as 1,000 billion watts.

 

Leaders of the NWT

George Braden June 16, 1980 - January 12, 1984
Richard Nerysoo January 12, 1984 - November 5, 1985
Nick Sibbeston November 5, 1985 November 12, 1987
Dennis Patterson November 12, 1987 - November 14, 1991
Nellie Cournoyea November 14, 1991 - November 22, 1995
Don Morin November 22, 1995 - November 26, 1998
Jim Antoine December 10, 1998 - January 17, 2000
Stephen Kakfwi January 19, 2000 to Present

See my premiers page for the other provinces & territories. 

 

 

NEXT ?

NFLD NS NB P.E.I. QUEBEC
ONTARIO MANITOBA SASK. ALBERTA BC
YUKON NW TERR. NUNAVUT CANADA CITIES

 

NUNAVUT

The territory of Nunavut was established under the Statutes of Canada 1993, Bill C-132, assented to on June 10, 1993. This Act came into force on April 1, 1999.

Nunavut consists of: all of Canada north of 60° N and east of the boundary shown on the map , and which is not within Quebec or Newfoundland; and the islands of Hudson Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay that are not within Manitoba, Ontario or Quebec.

 

PLEASE SEE MY NUNAVUT PAGE ON THIS SITE

 

 

For more information, see Graphs and Tables Based on Canadian Statistics



Northwest Territories

34.4 % of Canada's area

0.2% of Canada's population

click to enlarge pie graph

Area of Nunavut 1,900,000 km2
Area of Canada 9,970,610 km2


 A few comparisons


Greenland 2,175,600 km2
Germany 357,047 km2
China 9,596,961 km2
Sweden 449,964 km2

 

Where the names came from

NORTHWEST TERRITORIES

Historically, the term was loosely applied to the vast lands north and west of Lake Superior; later it signified the administrative district which pre-dated Saskatchewan and Alberta; and from January 1, 1920, it has meant "that part of Northern Canada between the Yukon Territory and Hudson Bay, including Baffin Island, the islands in James Bay, Hudson Bay, Hudson Strait, and the Arctic Archipelago".

YELLOWKNIFE

The community was established following the discovery of gold in 1934. The name is derived from the Athapaskan band of Amerindians, who possessed tools made from yellow copper.

 

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NORTHWEST TERRITORIES
Fort Smith AP(S) 60° 1' N 111° 58' W
Frobisher AP (S) 63° 45' N 68° 33' W
Inuvik (S) 68° 18' N 133° 29' W
Resolute AP (S) 74° 43' N 94° 59' W
Yellowknife AP 62° 28' N 114° 27' W