"Canada's Newest Territory" a Nunavut Travel Page by jamiesno

I hope you enjoy my information on Nunavut. I visited the territory for the first time in May 2004. It was a great experience and I hope you have the time also to travel the far north!!

In 1999 Nunavut became the largest and newest territory in Canada. Formed from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, this huge Canadian arctic territory has only about 25,000 residents, about 80 percent of whom are Inuit. Visit these pages to learn more about the territory of Nunavut.

Area: 2,093,190 sq. km (808,185 sq. miles) (Natural Resources Canada, 2001)

Population: 24,730 (Statistics Canada, 2001 Census)

Capital City:
Iqaluit, Nunavut

Entry into Confederation:
April 1, 1999

Government: Nunavut has a consensus form of government within the Canadian parliamentary system. Members of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly are elected on an individual rather than a party basis. After a general election, the 19 elected members select a premier and cabinet ministers. The premier assigns portfolios to the cabinet ministers.

Main Nunavut Industries: mining, resource development, tourism

The word "Nunavut" means "our land" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. To put the geography of this vast Canadian territory in perspective, Nunavut covers more than 2 million sq. km, (over 800,000 sq. miles) or approximately one-fifth the total area of Canada. The total population of Nunavut is approximately 25,000, about 80 percent of whom are Inuit. Canada has a total population of around 30 million, and a total Inuit population of about 25,000.

Symbolism of the flag

The colours, blue and gold, are the ones preferred by the Nunavut Implementation Commissioners to symbolize the riches of the land, sea and sky. Red is a reference to Canada.

The inuksuk symbolizes the stone monuments which guide the people on the land and mark sacred and other special places.

The star is the Niqirtsuituq, the North Star and the traditional guide for navigation and more broadly, forever remains unchanged as the leadership of the elders in the community.