Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories, region of northern and northwestern Canada encompassing a vast area of forests and tundra. Throughout most of the 20th century, the territories constituted more than one-third of the area of Canada and reached almost from the eastern to the western extremities of the country, across the roof of the North American continent. The creation in 1999 of the territory of Nunavut out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories reduced the area of the latter by more than half.

The Northwest Territories are bordered by Nunavut to the east, the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia to the south, and Yukon to the west. In the north the territories extend far above the Arctic Circle to incorporate numerous islands, the largest of which are Banks and Prince Patrick; several islands also are divided between the territories and Nunavut, notably Victoria and Melville. Yellowknife is the capital and largest city. Area 519,735 square miles (1,346,106 square km). Pop. (2021) 41,070.