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Place Name
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Mackenzie
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Place Status (Type)
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district
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Location
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Northwest Territories, Canada, North America
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Latitude
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65°00'N
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Longitude
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115°00'W
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Mackenzie
, district, provisional administrative division
(
527,490 sq mi/1,366,199 sq km)
of N.W.T., N Canada, comprising W mainland part of territory, bounded S
by Sask., Alta., and B.C., W by the Yukon, N by several arms of the
Arctic Ocean (Beaufort Sea, Amundsen Gulf, Coronation Gulf, Dease
Strait, and Queen Maud Gulf), and E by Keewatin Dist.; 65°00'N
115°00'W. In W are Mackenzie Mts., N range of the Rocky Mts., here
rising to 9,049 ft/2,758 m on Mt. Sir James
McBrien. E of this range extends the Mackenzie R. valley, widest part
of which lies bet. Great Bear and Great Slave lakes. E of lakes is
plateau, c.350 mi/563 km wide (E-W), followed
by plain E of line bet. Dubawnt L. and Bathurst Inlet. Dist. is drained
by Mackenzie R. and its tributaries (Hay, Slave, Liard, Arctic Red, and
Great Bear rivers), and by Coppermine, Anderson, and Thelon rivers. N
coastline is irregular and indented by several large bays. Gold mining
is centered on Yellowknife, largest town of the N.W.T., site of
discovery of important deposits in 1934. Uranium and pitchblende are
mined on E shore of Great Bear L.; operations centered on Port Radium.
Oil is found near Norman Wells; during World War II, terminal of
Canol project pipeline. Copper, found near Coppermine, is not
exploited because of transportation difficulties. Norman
Wells is the chief oil-producing town. In the early 1970s large
natural-gas fields were discovered in the Mackenzie delta region. A
plan to construct the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline from the Arctic Ocean
to Alta., which would have been the greatest construction project ever
undertaken, was shelved in 1977 after a federal royal commission
concluded that, though feasible, the project involved serious legal,
political, and environmental problems. Tungsten-copper mined at
Tungsten, on Yukon border. Lead-zinc mining at Pine Point, 1962-1987.
Fur trapping and crafts are major occupations of Native (Inuit and
other pop.). Chief towns are Fort Smith, Inuvik, and Hay River; other
important trading posts are Aklavik, Fort Norman, Fort Simpson, Fort
Providence, Fort Reliance, Hay River, Coppermine, Fort Liard, and
Arctic Red River. There are extensive game preserves, including the
Reindeer Grazing Reserve and Mackenzie Mts., Yellowknife, and Slave
River preserves. Thelon Game Sanctuary has largest herd of musk ox on
N.Amer. mainland. Transportation in dist. is by river and lake ships
during summer navigation season (June-Oct.), winter road system during
freeze-up. Nearly all localities served by scheduled air service;
private planes are principal means of transportation. Created 1895,
present borders defined 1918. NE part, from Keewatin dist. border NW to
Clinton Point to be included in Territory of Nunavut
(1999).
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