The Northwest Territories (N.W.T.) includes all of Canada north of the 60th parallel, except the Yukon and portions of
Quebec and Newfoundland. From the 60th parallel, the N.W.T. stretches 3560 km to the North Pole, and 4256 km from east to west, covering 3 426 320 km², and including the islands in Hudson, James and Ungava bays.

At some time in its history, the Northwest Territories has included all of Alberta, Saskatchewan and the Yukon, and most of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec. Today, the Northwest Territories remains the largest political subdivision in Canada, with 34.1 percent of the total area of the country. The N.W.T. is divided into three districts: Keewatin, Mackenzie and Franklin.

One of the most remarkable features of the N.W.T. is the Mackenzie River, one of the world's longest at 4241 km. Like the Yukon, the N.W.T. can be divided into two broad geographical regions: the taiga, a boreal forest belt that circles the subarctic zone, and the tundra, a rocky arctic region where the cold climate has stunted vegetation.

There are two major climate zones in the N.W.T.: subarctic and arctic. Average temperatures in January are -23°C (subarctic) and -26°C to -33°C (arctic), and in July 21°C (subarctic) and 10°C (arctic). As in the Yukon, the varying amounts of daylight over the year are an important influence on the climate: between 20 and 24 hours of daylight in June and up to 24 hours of darkness in December.

The ancestors of the Dene Indian people lived along the Mackenzie Valley in the N.W.T. 10 000 years ago. The first Inuit are believed to have crossed the Bering Strait about 5000 years ago, spreading east along the Arctic coast.

The first European explorers were the Vikings, who sailed to the eastern Arctic about 1000 A.D. However, Martin Frobisher's expeditions in the 1570s were the first recorded visits to the Northwest Territories by an explorer. In 1610, Henry Hudson, while looking for a passage to Asia, landed briefly on the western shore of the bay that now bears his name. His discovery opened the door for further exploration of the interior of the continent.

With the arrival of the fur traders in the late 1700s and the whalers in the 1800s, life began to change substantially. The Europeans reshaped the North, bringing with them a new economy and way of life. Communities grew around trading posts, mission schools and Royal Canadian Mounted Police stations with the arrival of fur traders, missionaries and government officials.

In 1870, the British government transferred control of the North-Western Territory to Canada. Ten years later the British government annexed the islands of the arctic archipelago, which also became part of the Territories. In 1905, both Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from the Territories. Finally, in 1912, the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec were enlarged and the Northwest Territories assumed its current boundaries.

By World War II, mineral exploration and the military were playing a role in northern development, prompting a more active interest in the N.W.T. by the rest of Canada.

The N.W.T. government to a large extent has the same responsibilities as provincial governments: taxation, municipal bodies, education, wildlife, health and hospital services, forest management, housing, social services and economic development. It lacks jurisdiction over land and resource administration, including control over the pace and scale of resource development, and subsurface and water rights. A 1988 agreement to negotiate a northern energy accord, however, will lead to territorial management and control of onshore oil and gas and shared responsibility with the federal government for offshore renewable resources.

As in the Yukon, the issue of settling Aboriginal land claims in the N.W.T. emerged in the 1970s. In 1984, a final agreement was reached with the Inuvialuit of the western Arctic; it provided some 2500 people with 91 000 km² of land, financial compensation, social development funding, hunting rights and a greater role in wildlife management, conservation and environmental protection.

In 1992, the Gwich'in settled a comprehensive land claim that provided 22 422 km² of land in the northwestern portion of the N.W.T. and 1554 km² of land in the Yukon, subsurface rights, a share in the resource royalties derived from the Mackenzie River Valley, tax-free capital transfers, hunting rights, a greater role in the management of wildlife, land and the environment, and the right of first refusal on a variety of activities related to wildlife.

In 1993, a final agreement was reached with the Tungavik Federation of Nunavut -- the largest comprehensive land claim to be settled in Canada. The agreement will provide some 17 500 Inuit of the eastern Arctic with 350 000 km² of land, financial compensation, the right to share in resource royalties, hunting rights, and a greater role in the management of land and the environment. The final agreement also commits the federal government to a process that will divide the N.W.T. and create the new territory of Nunavut.
 

The N.W.T. is the only place in Canada where most of the population are Aboriginals (30 525 out of 52 238). Most live in small communities; Yellowknife, the capital, has a population of more than 15 000.

The largest Aboriginal group is the Inuit, which means "the people" in Inuktitut. Inuit communities are often a mixture of people from different cultural and linguistic areas. Most communities, however, have characteristic dialects. In general, the Inuit language is a "living" language, and most Inuit children learn Inuktitut as their mother tongue.

In the western Arctic, the Dene have inhabited the forests and barrens for the past 2500 years. Once nomads, today they live in communities, many still using traditional skills of hunting, trapping and fishing. There are four major Dene cultural and linguistic groups: Chipewyan, Dogrib, Slavey (north and south) and Gwich'in (Loucheux).

Mining, with mineral production valued at over $800 million, is by far the largest private sector of the N.W.T. economy. Oil and gas exploration and development are also important, but the industry is open to wide fluctuations in world markets.

The Aboriginal peoples' traditional subsistence activities -- fishing, hunting and trapping -- also have an impact on the N.W.T. economy. Sports fishing and big-game hunting also play a small role. Commercial fishery development in the N.W.T. -- freshwater and saltwater -- is being encouraged. Fur harvesting continues to be very important, supplementing the income of many Aboriginal families. 

Inuit arts and crafts distribute a greater amount of income more widely than any other economic activity. One in 14 people of working age in the N.W.T. earns some income by this means.

Recently, tourism has become increasingly important. The N.W.T. offers a variety of landscapes of great natural beauty, conducive to fishing, wildlife observation and other outdoor activities.

The settling of northern land claims sets the stage for increased economic activity in which all can share and have a voice. However, development, which is welcome and necessary for economic prosperity, must be managed so as not to threaten the fragile arctic ecosystem and the traditional lifestyles of the northern peoples.

The Arctic Environmental Strategy introduced by the federal government in 1991 as part of its Green Plan, involves northerners in projects to protect the arctic environment. It also supports communities in the development of their own plans to deal with environmental issues.

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© 1995 Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade