Facts & Information

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The Northwest Territories (NWT) is an amazing place to live or visit. Its size is 1.17 million square kilometres encompassing 33 communities. As of July 2005, there were over 42,982 people living in the territory, approximately half of which are Aboriginal. On average, the temperature in Yellowknife (capital city) is -25 degrees celsius in January and 16 degrees celsius in July.

Mining is alive and well in the territory. With two diamond mines in production and dreams of a Mackenzie Valley pipeline in the not so distant future, mineral and petroleum development is continuing to be a cornerstone of the territory's economy. Tourism is also a large part of the economy in the NWT. Its northern lights are famous around the world, and adventure tourism has brought many sport enthusiasts to visit the land of the midnight sun.

On the political front, the Northwest Territories Legislative Assembly has 19 members and functions in much the same way as a provincial legislature. However, in the NWT there are no political parties at the territorial government level. The NWT operates under the consensus system of government which means that all Members of the Legislative Assembly are elected as independents in their constituencies. The current Premier of the NWT is Hon. Joe Handley and the Commissioner is Tony Whitford.

At the federal level, the Member of Parliament for the NWT is Dennis Bevington (NDP) and the Senator is Nick Sibbeston (Liberal).

For more information on the Northwest Territories, here are several helpful sites you may want to visit:

• Government of the Northwest Territories
• Northwest Territories Explorers Guide
• City of Yellowknife
• Looknorth.ca
• Northern Frontier Visitor's Association