The Northwest Territories (NWT or NT; French, les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) is a territory of Canada.
Located in northern Canada, it is east of Yukon, west of Nunavut (Canada's two other territories), and north of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan. It has an area of 1,140,835 square kilometres (440,479 sq mi) and a population of 41,464 as of the 2006 census, an increase of 11.0% from 2001. Its capital has been Yellowknife since 1967.
Geographical features include the vast Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, as well as the immense Mackenzie River and the canyons of the Nahanni River, a national park and UNESCO World Heritage Site. Territorial islands in the Arctic Archipelago include Banks Island, Parry Peninsula, Prince Patrick Island, and parts of Victoria Island and Melville Island. The highest point is Mount Nirvana near the border with Yukon at elevation 2,773 metres (9,098 ft).
Land claims in NWT culminated with the creation of the Inuit homeland of Nunavut, the result of the largest land claim in Canadian history.
Another land claims agreement with the Dogrib nation created a region within NWT called Tli Cho, between Great Bear and Great Slave Lakes, which will give the Dogrib their own legislative bodies, taxes, resource royalties, and other affairs, though NWT will still maintain control over such areas as health and education. This area includes two of Canada's three diamond mines at Ekati and Diavik.
The territory enjoys vast geological resources including diamonds, gold, and natural gas. In particular, NWT diamonds are touted as an ethical alternative that allays risks of supporting conflicts by purchasing blood diamonds. However, their exploitation has raised environmental concerns, not least the potential havoc that a spill from tailings ponds could cause to unspoiled wilderness areas.
The vast natural resources and relatively low population give Northwest Territories the highest per capita GDP of all provinces or territorites in Canada. In fact, its per capita GDP of C$97,923 would rank it first in the world if it were considered as its own country, well ahead of 2nd place Luxembourg (at approximately C$83,000 (nominal GDP)).
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