Northwest Territories of Canada

The Northwest Territories (NT or NWT, French: les Territoires du Nord-Ouest, TNO, Athabaskan languages: Denendeh, Inuinnaqtun: Nunatsiaq, Inuktitut: ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ) is a federal territory of Canada. In an area of ​​land of approximately 1,144,000 km2 (442,000 square miles) and a population of 41,462 in 2011, it is the second largest and most populated of the three territories in northern Canada.  Its estimated population as of 2016 is 44,291. [5] Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967, following the recommendations of the Carrothers Commission.

The Northwest Territories, a part of the former Northwest Territory, entered the Canadian Confederation on July 15, 1870, but the current borders were formed on April 1, 1999, when the territory was subdivided to create Nunavut to the east, through the Nunavut Law and the Land Claims Agreement of Nunavut. [8] [9] Although Nunavut is primarily Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories have a slightly warmer climate and are both boreal forest (taiga) and tundra, and their northernmost regions are part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago.

The Northwest Territories are limited by the other two territories of Canada, Nunavut to the east and Yukon to the west, and by the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south.

Etymology
The name is descriptive, adopted by the British government during the colonial era to indicate where it was in relation to Rupert's Land. It is shortened from the Northwest Territory (see History). In Inuktitut, the Northwest Territories are known as ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ (Nunatsiaq), "beautiful land".

There was a discussion about changing the name of the Northwest Territories after the separation from Nunavut, possibly to a term of an aboriginal language. One proposal was "Denendeh" (a word from the Athabaskan language meaning "our land"), as defended by former Prime Minister Stephen Kakfwi, among others. One of the most popular proposals for a new name, one to name the territory "Bob", started as a joke, but for a while it was on top or near it in public opinion polls. [11] [12]

In the end, a survey conducted before the division showed that strong support was maintained to maintain the name "Territorios del Noroeste". This name could be said to have become more appropriate after the division than when the territories extended to the north-central and northeastern areas of Canada.

Geography
Located in northern Canada, the territory borders the other two territories of Canada, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, and Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south. You may encounter Manitoba in a quadripunto to the extreme southeast, although the surveys have not been completed. It has an area of ​​land of 1,183,085 km2 (456,792 square miles).

Geographical features include Great Bear Lake, the largest lake in its entirety within Canada, and Great Slave Lake, the deepest body of water in North America at 614 m (2,014 ft), as well as the Mackenzie River and the Nahanni canyons Reserve the National Park, a national park and a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The 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 Yukon border, at an elevation of 2,773 m (9,098 ft).

History
The current territory came under the authority of the government in July 1870, after the Hudson Bay Company transferred the Land of Rupert and the Northwest Territory to the British Crown, which subsequently transferred them to the Dominion of Canada, giving it the Northwest name. Territories. This immense region comprised all of Canada today, except that which was included among the first signatories of the Canadian Confederation, namely British Columbia, the first forms of present-day Ontario and Quebec (covering the Great Lakes coast, the San Lorenzo river). valley and the southern third of Quebec, the Maritimes (NS, PEI and NB), Newfoundland, the Labrador coast and the Arctic islands, except the southern half of Baffin Island (the Arctic islands remained under direct British claim until 1880) .

After the transfer of 1870, some of the Northwest Territories were reduced. The province of Manitoba was created on July 15, 1870, first in a small square area around Winnipeg, and then expanded in 1881 to a larger rectangular region that makes up the south of the modern province. When British Columbia joined the Confederation on July 20, 1871, it had already received (1866) the portion of the Northwest Territory south of 60 degrees north and west of 120 degrees west