The Northwest Territories is situated within northern Canada. This federal territory borders the two other territories in the nation, Nunavut to the east and Yukon towards the west. Towards the south of the Northwest Territories there are 3 provinces: British Columbia to the southwest and Alberta and Saskatchewan towards the south. Based on the census of the year 2006, the Northwest Territories population was around 41,400 which was an increase from the year 2001 by 11%. The land area measures 1,140,835 km2 or 440,000 square miles. Yellowknife City became the capital during the year 1967 as a result of recommendations from the Carrothers Commission.
The Northwest Territories has lots of wonderful geological features such as Great Slave Lake, Keller Lake, and Great Bear Lake that is the biggest lake entirely within the country. Additionally, the Nahanni National Park Reserve, that is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and a national park, features many beautiful canyons and the Mackenzie River. Territorial islands located in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago comprise portions of Victoria Island, Melville Island and Borden Island as well as Prince Patrick Island and Banks Island. Mount Nirvana is near the Yukon border and is Northwest Territories' highest point with an elevation of 9,098 feet or 2,773 meters.
Most of Nunavut is Arctic tundra. The Northwest Territories enjoy a somewhat warmer weather which is usually taiga or boreal forest. Around 50 percent of the territory is situated north of the tree line.
The territory has many natural and geological resources like for instance petroleum, gold, diamonds and natural gas. BP is the only oil business which generates any oil within the territory. The Canadian Diamonds which are mined and advertised from the region offer an alternative to blood diamonds. BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto are two of the biggest mineral resource companies within the globe who mine a huge number of their diamonds from the Northwest Territories. Based on records, during the year 2010, the Northwest Territories accounted for 110% of BHP's diamonds coming in at 3.05 million carats from the EKATI mine. The numbers show 28.5% of Rio Tinto's total diamond production at 3.9 million carats which was 17% more than the previous 2009 total from the Diavik Diamond Mine.
In 2009, the Northwest Territories had the highest GDP per capita of all territories and provinces in the nation at seventy six thousand Canadian dollars.
According to statistics from 2010, the NWT has thirty three official communities ranging in size from Kasisa with fifty two individuals to Yellowknife with eighteen thousand seven hundred inhabitants. Every community has several governing bodies. like for example, several areas are designated as a village, hamlet, town or city whereas other regions fall under various types of First Nations control. The majority of communities are designated as municipal corporations.
The largest community is Yellowknife and it also has the largest number of Aboriginal people projected as 4,105 or forty two percent. The community of Behchoko has the largest First Nations community with a population of 1,894 and 1,730 or 91.5%. Inuvik has about 3,484 residents and is likewise home to the biggest Inuvialuit community with 38.9% or 1,335 people. In the Northwest Territories there is one Indian reserve referred to as the Hay River Reserve that is situated on the south shoreline of the Hay River.