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Place Name
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Nunavut
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Place Status (Type)
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territory
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Population
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3,552 (1991)
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Location
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Northwest Territories, Canada, North America
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Latitude
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unknown
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Longitude
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unknown
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Nunavut
, territory, NE Canada, created by a plebiscite on May
4, 1992, the electorate of the N.W.T. approved a boundary that would
divide the territory along a zigzag line running from the Sask.-Man.
border almost to the North Pole. The estimated area (1992) was
772,260 sq mi/2,000,671 sq km.
The new territory of Nunavut, which will constitute the E portion of
the current N.W.T., will have a W boundary that runs N to the Thelon
R., W to just above the Great Bear L., and then N again to bisect
Victoria and Melville isls. The federal govt. anticipates that the new
territorial govt. will come into force no later than April 1, 1999. The
territory, Canada's 3d after the Yukon and the remaining
N.W.T., will effectively be controlled by the Inuit, who,
with 17,500 people, make up the majority of the area's pop. The region
will include the isls. of Ellesmere, Baffin, Devon, Prince of
Wales, Southampton, and Coats, among others. The largest town in the
territory is Iqaluit (1991 pop. 3,552) on Baffin
Isl. at Frobisher Bay. Most of the richest and most well-developed
parts of the current N.W.T., which lie along the Mackenzie R., will not
be included in Nunavut. The new territory will have to rely on the
development of its mineral resources, in addition to hunting, fishing,
fur trapping, sealing, and the production of arts and crafts, in order
to establish its economic base. As a result of their land claim with
the federal govt., the Inuit will hold outright title to about 20% of
Nunavut, including
13,896 sq mi/36,000 sq km of
subsurface mineral rights. In the Inuit language, Nunavut means “our
land.”
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