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Spanning from the arctic archipelago to the forested taiga, roads and rail won’t get you far into this vast territory. Nature is unyielding here and the small population relies heavily on air travel.
The area that is now the Northwest Territories was originally home to the Dene, who have been on the land for at least 10,000 years. In the 1600s, the expanding fur trade brought Europeans to the region, and later enterprising Métis from Canada. The area fell under the control of the Hudson’s Bay Company, making the company the largest landowner in the world during this period. Shortly after confederation, Canada took over the company land and called it the Northwest Territories. Later it was divided into Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba and Nunavut.
The territory enjoyed many profitable years of gold mining before the mines closed down. Today diamonds, natural gas and petroleum contribute to the territory’s high GDP. The Northwest Territories has a consensus government, with one member elected from each of the nineteen constituencies. Many communities are under First Nations selfgovernment, the largest of these being the Tåîchô Government that administers to the largest First Nations owned area in Canada. Control extends to all residents living in the area including non-First Nations, and gives the Tlicho First Nation administration over education, health care, and the justice system below the criminal level. |
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