Where we live? Territories

The Mackenzie and Yukon rivers played a key role in the exploration and settlement of the Yukon and the Northwest Territories. These rivers provided Aboriginal people and then settlers with a major means of transportation and facilitated trade.

Even today, most of the main towns and cities of these two territories are located along the waterways of these two great river systems. In the Yukon, Whitehorse and Dawson, both located on the shores of the Yukon River, account for four-fifths of the territory's total population.

In the Northwest Territories, three inhabitants out of four live in Yellowknife, Fort Smith, Hay River, Behchokò, Fort Simpson and Inuvik, which are all located within the Mackenzie River drainage basin.

In Nunavut, settlement occurred along the ocean shores. Iqaluit, on Baffin Island, is the territorial capital with a population of more than 6,000. Arviat and Rankin Inlet, on the shores of Hudson Bay, each have more than 2,000 inhabitants. There are eight other towns with more than 1,000 inhabitants. Together, these communities account for three quarters of the total population of Nunavut. Nunavut also features the most northerly settlement in Canada: Grise Fiord on Ellesmere Island.

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