Where is Northwest Territories?

Northwest Territories is a first-level division of Canada, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 65.5920° N, 123.7066° W.

What is the largest city in Northwest Territories?

Yellowknife is the largest city mapped in Northwest Territories, with a metropolitan population of about 19,234.

How many cities are in Northwest Territories?

YearMaps maps 14 cities and towns in Northwest Territories, with a combined metropolitan population of about 32,105. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.

What is the largest lake in Northwest Territories?

The largest lake mapped in or beside Northwest Territories is Great Slave Lake, at about 27,481 km².

Northwest Territories Map — Cities & Geography, Canada

Interactive Map of Northwest Territories

4.4

About Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories is a territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately 1,127,711.92 square kilometres (435,412.01 sq mi) and a 2026 estimated population of 45,904, it is the second-largest and second-most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada. Under its modern borders, the Northwest Territories consists of a large part of Denendeh—traditional land of the Dene—and most of the Inuvialuit Settlement Region (known as Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq in Inuinnaqtun)—traditional land of the Western Canadian Inuit. The territory also contains some land traditionally used by Cree and Métis peoples. Its capital and most populous community is Yellowknife, the only city in the territory; its population was 20,340 as of the 2021 census. It became the territorial capital in 1967, following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission.

The territory entered Canadian Confederation on July 15, 1870, replacing most of British North America's regions of North-Western Territory, Rupert's Land and, after 1880, the British Arctic Territories. At that time, it consisted of a vast but sparsely populated area covering a majority of modern Canada's land area, including most of Nunavut, the Canadian Prairies, Northern Ontario, Northern Quebec and Labrador. Since 1870, the territory has been divided four times to create new provinces and territories or enlarge existing ones. Its current borders date from April 1, 1999, when the territory's size was decreased again by the creation of a new territory of Nunavut to the east.

While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest (taiga) and tundra, and its most northern regions form part of the Arctic Archipelago.

The Northwest Territories has the most interprovincial and inter-territorial land borders among all provinces and territories of Canada.

Summary adapted from Wikipedia: Northwest Territories (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Northwest Territories in Depth

History

There are multiple Indigenous territories overlapping the current borders of the Northwest Territories. These include Denendeh, Inuvialuit Settlement Region (Inuvialuit Nunangit Sannaiqtuaq), and both Métis and Nêhiyawak countries (Michif Piyii and ᓀᐦᐃᔮᓈᕁ nêhiýânâhk, respectively). Of these, Denendeh and the Dene nations are the most prominent with the rest of the Dene country ("Dene-ndeh" or Deneland) covering much of what is now Alaska, British Columbia, and the northern regions of the prairie provinces. Some of its constituent territories include Tłı̨chǫ Country, Got'iné Néné, Dehchondéh, and Gwichʼin Nành, amongst others including those of the Dënë Sųłinë́ (Nëné, "land"), Dane-z̲aa (Nanéʔ), and the T'satsąot'ınę (Ndé).

Geography

Located in northern Canada, the territory borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, as well as four provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south, and Manitoba (through a quadripoint) to the extreme southeast. It has a land area of 1,183,085 km2 (456,792 sq mi).

Geographical features include Great Bear Lake, the largest lake entirely within Canada, and Great Slave Lake, the deepest body of water in North America at 614 metres (2,014 ft), as well as the Mackenzie River and the canyons of the Nahanni National Park Reserve, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Economy

The gross domestic product of the Northwest Territories was C$4.856 billion in 2017. It has the second highest per capita GDP of all provinces and territories in Canada, behind Nunavut, totalling C$113,198 in 2024.

The Territories' geological resources include gold, diamonds, natural gas and petroleum. BP is the only oil company currently producing oil there. Its diamonds are promoted as an alternative to purchasing blood diamonds. Two of the biggest mineral resource companies in the world, BHP and Rio Tinto mine many of their diamonds there. In 2010, Territories' accounted for 28.5% of Rio Tinto's total diamond production (3.9 million carats, 17% more than in 2009, from the Diavik Diamond Mine) and 100% of BHP's (3.05 million carats from the EKATI mine).

Sections adapted from Wikipedia: Northwest Territories (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Northwest Territories: Key Facts

Key facts about Northwest Territories
Population	41,070 (2021)
Area	1,346,106 km²
Capital	Yellowknife
Head of government	R. J. Simpson
Highest point	Mount Nirvana
Established	15 July 1870

Facts from Wikidata Q2007 (CC0).

History of Northwest Territories: Empires and States

The atlas records 3 polities whose mapped territory included part of Northwest Territories, from British Colonial Empire in 1911 CE to 2024 CE. They are listed in the order they first appear.

Polities that held Northwest Territories, in chronological order
Polity	Period here
British Colonial Empire	1911–1931 CE
The British Empire	1911–1931 CE
Canada	1932–2024 CE

Historical Maps of Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories on the world map in each year one of these states held it:

Derived by testing mapped cities against dated territorial polygons. Dates are when the polygons cover this place, not the polity's whole lifespan, and polities absent from the source dataset are not listed.

Visiting Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories (NWT) is a vast wilderness area that is a part of Northern Canada. Summer in the NWT offers open water, camping, hot weather and the midnight sun. Autumn offers vivid colours in the mountains and bountiful berry-picking in the Barrenlands, and excellent opportunities to see the Aurora Borealis. Winter is an even better time to see the Northern Lights when the sky is clear and the nights are long. Springtime is ideal for snowmobiling, dogsledding, ice-fishing, and skiing.

Travel notes adapted from Wikivoyage: Northwest Territories (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Largest Cities in Northwest Territories

14 cities mapped. Ranked by metropolitan population. A port city's harbour is written up on the page of its sea.

Largest Cities in Northwest Territories
#	Name	Population	Region	Role
1	Yellowknife	19,234	Northwest Territories	Admin-1 capital
2	Hay River	3,900	Northwest Territories	Populated place
3	Inuvik	3,022	Northwest Territories	Populated place
4	Fort McPherson	1,069	Northwest Territories	Populated place
5	Norman Wells	1,027	Northwest Territories	Populated place
6	Tuktoyaktuk	929	Northwest Territories	Populated place
7	Fort Good Hope	597	Northwest Territories	Populated place
8	Doline	525	Northwest Territories	Populated place
9	Holman	500	Northwest Territories	Populated place
10	Fort Resolution	448	Northwest Territories	Populated place
11	Paulatuk	294	Northwest Territories	Populated place
12	Fort Simpson	283	Northwest Territories	Populated place
13	Tsiigehtchic	175	Northwest Territories	Populated place
14	Lutselke	102	Northwest Territories	Populated place

Largest Lakes in Northwest Territories

6 lakes mapped. Ranked by mapped surface area. A lake on a border is listed under each country it lies in, with the area of the whole lake. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Largest Lakes in Northwest Territories
#	Name	Surface Area	Type
1	Great Slave Lake	27,481 km²	Lake
2	McLeod Bay	1,934 km²	Lake
3	Nonacho Lake	941 km²	Lake
4	Tathlina Lake	603 km²	Lake
5	Trout Lake	509 km²	Lake
6	Travaillant Lake	110 km²	Lake

Ports in Northwest Territories

3 ports mapped. Ranked by approach channel depth, the figure that limits which ships can call. Harbours link to their write-up on the page of the sea or coast they lie on. Assigned by the nearest mapped city, so features near the boundary may belong to a neighbouring division.

Ports in Northwest Territories
#	Name	Channel Depth	Class	Sea	Max Vessel
1	Police Point	—	Very Small	Alaska, British Columbia & Bering Sea	point_of_interest
2	Pearce Point	—	Very Small	Alaska, British Columbia & Bering Sea	point_of_interest
3	Tysoe Point	—	Very Small	Alaska, British Columbia & Bering Sea	point_of_interest

Northwest Territories: Quick Answers

Where is Northwest Territories?: Northwest Territories is a first-level division of Canada, in North America. Its mapped cities centre on 65.5920° N, 123.7066° W.
What is the largest city in Northwest Territories?: Yellowknife is the largest city mapped in Northwest Territories, with a metropolitan population of about 19,234.
How many cities are in Northwest Territories?: YearMaps maps 14 cities and towns in Northwest Territories, with a combined metropolitan population of about 32,105. This counts mapped settlements, not every municipality.
What is the largest lake in Northwest Territories?: The largest lake mapped in or beside Northwest Territories is Great Slave Lake, at about 27,481 km².