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Home > Yellowknife, Northwest Territories


Yellowknife (62°27′N, 114°21′W MST) is the territorial capital of Canada's Northwest Territories, and the only settlement in the territory to be legally a city. Yellowknife was founded as a gold mining town in the 1930s. The local, provincial, and federal governments are the largest employer, with gold mining second. It became the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967.

The city is located on the shore of Great Slave Lake. Its name derives from the copper knives used by the local Chipewyans. The current population is ethnically mixed, and the territory government lists five languages as spoken in significant numbers: Chipewyan, Dogrib, South and North Slavey , English, and French.

In Dogrib, the town is called Somba K'e (where the money is).

Community profile

According to the 2001 Statistics Canada census:

Population: 16,541 (-4.2% from 1996)
Land area: 105.20 kmē
Population density: 157.2 people/kmē
Median age: 31.3 (males: 31.4, females: 31.1)
Total private dwellings: 6,514
Median household income: $81,544

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Cities in Northwest Territories

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