this is there flag

 

There capital is the yellow knife

 

There population is52,238 .

 

The Vikings were probably the first Europeans the northwest Territories.

 

Although these two separate territores, the terms used to reter to them are often some what coinfused in Canada texbooks

 

In 1870 when Rupert's Land and the North-West Territory become the property of Canada were renamed the Northwest Territories they were goverment directly by Ottawa.  The act for the  temporary govmment led by a lieutenant govemor the first was William McDougll and a council appointed by Ottawa.

 

 

 

 

 

The ancestors of the present day Dene peoples 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. In 1789, Alexander Mackenzie 'discovered' the Mackenzie River and followed it to its mouth at the Arctic Ocean. Fur traders soon established posts in the Mackenzie River basin. Late in the next century religious missions were founded in the area. The Europeans reshaped the North bringing with them a new economy and way of life. Through the following years communities grew around trading posts, mission schools and Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) stations.

 

 

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 that also became part of the North West Territories.

 

 

In 1905, both Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from the Northwest Territories landbase. Finally in 1912, the provinces of Manitoba, Ontario and Quebec were enlarged, fixing the Northwest Territories with a size and shape that remained unchanged until 1999, when Nunavut was established. 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 present population of the N.W.T. is approximately 40 000 Dene, Inuvialuit and Métis make up 48%, non-Aboriginals about 52%. Most live in small communities; Yellowknife, the capital, has a population of more than 15 000.

 

Average weekly earnings, 1997 - $725.72

 

Northwest Territories, territory (2001 pop. 37,360), 532,643 sq mi (1,379,028 sq km), NW Canada. The Northwest Territories lie W of Nunavut, N of lat. 60°N, and E of Yukon. Until 1999, when the Northwest Territories were divided and the eastern portion became Nunavut, the region occupied more than one third of Canada's area. Yellowknife is the territorial capital.

 

 

When European incursions into the area began, they encountered the hunting and fishing Inuit and Dene. Vikings from Greenland may have been the first Europeans to venture into the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories, now Nunavut. Sir Martin Frobisher was the first in a long line of explorers to seek a Northwest Passage, but it was Henry Hudson who discovered the gateway to the Northwest (Hudson Bay) in 1610.

 

For several decades the Hudson's Bay Company sent trader-explorers through the northern sea lanes and along the coast, and in 1771, Samuel Hearne walked from Hudson Bay and descended the Coppermine River. In 1789, Alexander Mackenzie, exploring for the North West Company, journeyed to the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Sir John Franklin made scientific expeditions to the Arctic Northwest in the first half of the 19th cent., obtaining valuable geographical data.

 

 

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.

 

 

Since the 1982 patriation of the Canadian constitution (see Canada Act), several land claims by native peoples have been making their way through the courts and the federal government. In 1992, Northwest Territories residents voted to divide the territory roughly along ethnic lines, with the Inuit in the east and the Dene in the west. The new territory of Nunavut, dominated by the Inuit, came into existence on Apr. 1, 1999. This split the Northwest Territories along a zigzag line running from the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border through the Arctic Archipelago to the North Pole. Other native groups with claims are the Métis and the Inuvialuit. Joe Handley became the Territories' premier in Dec., 2003.

 

 

Northwest Passage, water routes through the Arctic Archipelago, N Canada, and along the northern coast of Alaska between the Pacific and Atlantic oceans. Even though the explorers of the 16th cent. demonstrated that the American continents were a true barrier to a short route to East Asia, there still remained hope that a natural passage would be found leading directly through the barrier. During the same period, the idea of reaching China and India by sailing over the North Pole or by sailing through a passage north of Europe and Asia—the Northeast Passage—also became popular. The Northwest Passage, however, remained the most important goal, and the search for the passage continued even though at that time such a route had no commercial value.

 

 

 

 

Proof of the existence of the passage in the mid-1800s only revealed how difficult its transit would be, and it was not until the early 20th cent. that the first transit was accomplished. The first commercial ship to successfully transit the Northwest Passage was the SS Manhattan, an ice-breaking tanker, in 1969. In 1988 the United States and Canada addressed the question of arctic sovereignty, agreeing that U.S. icebreakers could cross arctic waters, but only after approval on a case-by-case basis.

 

 

 

 

 

Sir Martin Frobisher, the English explorer, was the first European to explore (1576–78) the eastern approaches of the passage. John Davis also explored (1585–87) this area, and in 1610 Henry Hudson sailed north and visited Hudson Bay while seeking a short route to Asia. Soon afterward, William Baffin, an English explorer, visited (1616) Baffin Bay, through which the passage was finally found. English statesmen and merchants, anxious to have the passage found, encouraged exploration. Luke Fox and Thomas

 

 

 

Although one of the avowed goals of Hudson's Bay Company was to find the Northwest Passage, little was accomplished until a century after its charter, when Samuel Hearne, a British explorer with the company, went overland as far west as the Coppermine River (1771–72) and demonstrated that there was no short passage to the western sea. The British government offered prizes for achievements in northern exploration, and Captain James Cook was inspired to make the first attempt at navigating the passage from the west. He died before he could accomplish anything. The British, Spanish, and Americans, however, pushed explorations on the Pacific coast, and the explorations of the Russians about Kamchatka and Alaska, together with the voyages of Alexander Mackenzie, the Canadian explorer, and the expedition of the Americans Lewis and Clark, revealed the contours of the continental barrier.

 

 

 

Wars between Britain and France interrupted the search for the Northwest Passage, and when resumed after the wars the explorations were made in the interests of science, not commerce. The desire to extend human knowledge was the chief motive in arctic exploration after the expeditions of British explorers John Ross and David Buchan were sent out in 1818. Ross's later voyages, and those of Sir William Edward Parry, F. W. Beechey, Sir George Back, Thomas Simpson, and Sir John Franklin pushed forward the knowledge of the Arctic and of the Northwest Passage. The last tragic expedition of Franklin indirectly had more effect than any other voyage because of the many expeditions sent out to discover his fate. In his expedition (1850–54), Robert J. Le M. McClure penetrated the passage from the west along the northern coast of the continent and by a land expedition reached Viscount Melville Sound, which had been reached (1819–20) by Parry from the east.

 

The actual existence of the Northwest Passage had been proved, and the long search was over. It was many years, however, before a transit of the passage was made. This feat, which had been attempted by so many men, was first accomplished (1903–6) by the Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen. Interest in the Northwest Passage slackened until the 1960s, when oil was discovered in N Alaska and there was a desire for a short water route to transport oil to the east coast of the United States.

 

Sovereign: Queen Elizabeth II (1952)

Governor-General: Michaëlle Jean (2005)

Prime Minister: Stephen Harper (2006)

Current government officials

Land area: 3,511,003 sq mi (9,093,507 sq km); total area: 3,855,102 sq mi (9,984,670 sq km)

Population (2007 est.): 33,390,141 (growth rate: 0.9%); birth rate: 10.8/1000; infant mortality rate: 4.6/1000; life expectancy: 80.3; density per sq mi: 9

Capital (2004 est.): Ottawa, Ontario, 1,142,700 (metro. area)

Largest cities (metropolitan areas) (2004 est.): Toronto, 5,203,600; Montreal, 3,606,700; Vancouver, 2,160,000; Calgary, 1,037,100; Edmonton, 1,101,600; Quebec, 710,700; Hamilton, 710,300; Winnipeg, 702,400; London, 459,700; Kitchener, 450,100

Monetary unit: Canadian dollar

Languages: English 59.3%, French 23.2% (both official); other 17.5%

Ethnicity/race: British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, indigenous Indian and Inuit 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%

Religions: Roman Catholic 43%, Protestant 23% (including United Church 10%, Anglican 7%, Baptist 2%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4%, Muslim 2%, none 16% (2001)

Literacy rate: 99% (2 est.)

Economic summary: GDP/PPP (2006 est.): $1.09 trillion; per capita $35,200. Real growth rate: 2.8%. Inflation: 2%. Unemployment: 6.4%. Arable land: 5%. Agriculture: wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; forest products; fish. Labor force: 16.3 million (Dec. 2005); agriculture 2%, manufacturing 14%, construction 5%, services 75%, other 3% (2004). Industries: transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas. Natural resources: iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower. Exports: $405 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment; chemicals, plastics, fertilizers; wood pulp, timber, crude petroleum, natural gas, electricity, aluminum. Imports: $353.2 billion f.o.b. (2006 est.): machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and parts, crude oil, chemicals, electricity, durable consumer goods. Major trading partners: U.S., Japan, UK, China, Mexico (2004).

Communications: Telephones: main lines in use: 18.276 million (2005); mobile cellular: 16.6 million (2005). Radio broadcast stations: AM 245, FM 582, shortwave 6 (2004). Television broadcast stations: 80 (plus many repeaters) (1997). Internet hosts: 3.934 million (2006). Internet users: 21.9 million (2005).

Transportation: Railways: total: 48,467 km km (2005). Highways: total: 1,042,300 km; paved: 415,600 km (includes 17,000 km of expressways); unpaved: 626,700 km (2005). Waterways: 631 km; note: Saint Lawrence Seaway of 3,769 km, including the Saint Lawrence River of 3,058 km, shared with United States (2003). Ports and harbors: Fraser River Port, Goderich, Montreal, Port Cartier, Quebec, Saint John's (Newfoundland), Sept Isles, Vancouver. Airports: 1,337 (2006 est.).

International disputes: managed maritime boundary disputes with the US at Dixon Entrance, Beaufort Sea, Strait of Juan de Fuca, and around the disputed Machias Seal Island and North Rock; working toward greater cooperation with US in monitoring people and commodities crossing the border; uncontested sovereignty dispute with Denmark over Hans Island in the Kennedy Channel between Ellesmere Island and Greenland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 this is what it looks like if you was in space