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The Northwest Territories is a territory in Northern Canada, specifically in Northwestern Canada between Yukon Territory and Nunavut including part of Victoria Island, Melville Island, and other islands on the western Arctic Archipelago.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Northwest Territories Answers )〕 Originally a much wider territory enclosing most of central and northern Canada, the Northwest Territories was created in 1870 from the Hudson's Bay Company's holdings that were sold to Canada from 1869-1870.〔 In addition, Alberta and Saskatchewan were formed from the territory in 1905. In 1999, it was divided again: the eastern portion became the new territory of Nunavut.〔 Yellowknife stands as its largest city and capital.〔 It has a population of 42,800〔 and has an area of . The current territory lies west of Nunavut, north of latitude 60° north, and east of Yukon. It stretches across the top of the North American continent, reaching into the Arctic Circle.〔 The region consists of the following: many islands, such as Victoria Island, the Mackenzie River, and Great Bear and Great Slave lakes. Over half the people are Inuit and First Nations peoples. In the 18th century, the main land was explored by Samuel Hearne for the Hudson's Bay Company and by Alexander Mackenzie.〔 European settlers were mainly whalers, fur traders, and missionaries until the 1920s, when oil was discovered and the territorial administration had formed.〔 The principal industry is now mining, and centers of the petroleum and Natural Gas fields in the western Arctic coastal regions.〔 ==History and founding== (詳細はfishing and hunting Inuit and Dene. Vikings who came from Greenland may have been the first Europeans to explore the eastern section of the Northwest Territories, now Nunavut.〔 Sir Martin Frobisher was the first of a long line of explorers to venture the Northwest Passage; but it was Henry Hudson who discovered the gateway to the Northwest (Hudson Bay) in 1610.〔 For several decades the Hudson's Bay Company sent trade-explorers into the northern sea lanes and along the coast; in 1771, Samuel Hearne went from Hudson Bay and descended the Coppermine River. By 1789, exploring for the North West Company, Alexander Mackenzie ventured to the mouth of the Mackenzie River. Sir John Franklin contributed scientific expeditions to the Arctic Northwest in the first half of the 19th century, gaining valuable geographic data.〔 The area of present Northwest Territories and Nunavut was part of the vast lands sold by the Hudson's Bay Company to the new Canadian confederation in 1870.〔 Some of those lands were added to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Then the province of Manitoba was formed from them in 1870, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, all south of 60° North. In 1898, the Yukon Territory was separated. The boundaries of the Northwest Territories were set in 1912 and stayed fixed until Nunavut was created in 1999. From 1920 until 1999 the Territories were divided into three districts: Franklin, Keewatin and Mackenzie. Ever since the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Constitution, several land claims made by native peoples have made their way through the courts and federal government.〔 In 1992, the residents of the Northwest Territories voted to divide the territory along ethnic lines, with the Inuit on the east and the Dene to the west. The new territory of Nunavut, dominated by the Inuit, came into existence on April 1, 1999. This split the Northwest Territories along a ziz-zag path running from the Saskatchewan-Manitoba border through the Arctic Archipelago on the North Pole. Other native peoples with claims were the Métis and the Inuvialuit. Joe Handley became the Territories' premier in December 2003. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Geography of Northwest Territories」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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