Yukon

Infobox Province or territory of Canada
Name = Yukon
AlternateName =
Fullname = Yukon
EntityAdjective = Territorial

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Label_

Motto = none
OfficialLang = English, French
Flower = Fireweed
Tree = Subalpine Fir
Bird = Common Raven
Capital = Whitehorse
LargestCity = Whitehorse
LargestMetro = Whitehorse
Premier = Dennis Fentie
PremierParty = Yukon Party
Viceroy = Geraldine Van Bibber
ViceroyType = Commissioner
PostalAbbreviation = YT
PostalCodePrefix = Y
AreaRank = 9^th
TotalArea_km2 = 482443
LandArea_km2 = 474391
WaterArea_km2 = 8052
PercentWater = 1.7
PopulationRank = 12^th
Population = 31,530 (est.) [cite web | author= Statistics Canada|publisher= |title= Canada's population estimates 2008-06-25 |accessdate=2008-06-25 |url=http://www.statcan.ca/Daily/English/080625/d080625b.htm]
PopulationYear = 2008
DensityRank = 11^th
Density_km2 = 0.065
GDP_year = 2006
GDP_total = C$1.596 billion [ [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/econ15.htm Gross domestic product, expenditure-based, by province and territory] ]
GDP_rank = 12^th
GDP_per_capita = C$51,154
GDP_per_capita_rank = 3^rd
AdmittanceOrder = 9^th
AdmittanceDate = June 13, 1898
TimeZone = UTC-8
HouseSeats = 1
SenateSeats = 1
ISOCode = CA-YT
Website = www.gov.yk.ca

Yukon (IPAEng|ˈjuːkɒn) is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's three territories. It was named after the Yukon River, Yukon meaning "Great River" in Gwich’in.

The name Yukon Territory may also be used, although this usage is disputed by residents of the territory. The federal government's most recent update of the "Yukon Act" in 2003 confirmed Yukon, rather than Yukon Territory, as the current usage standard. [ [http://www.canlii.org/ca/sta/y-2.01/ CanLII - Federal - S.C. 2002, c. 7] ]

At 5,959 metres (19,551 ft), the Yukon's Mount Logan, in Kluane National Park and Reserve, is the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest of North America (after Mount McKinley).

Geography

The very sparsely populated territory abounds with snow-melt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains. Although the climate is Arctic and subarctic and very dry, with long, cold winters, the long sunshine hours in short summer allow hardy crops and vegetables, along with a profusion of flowers and fruit to blossom.

The territory is the approximate shape of a right triangle, bordering the U.S. state of Alaska to the west, the Northwest Territories to the east and British Columbia to the south. Its northern coast is on the Beaufort Sea. Its ragged eastern boundary mostly follows the divide between the Yukon Basin and the Mackenzie River drainage basin to the east in the Mackenzie mountains. Its capital is Whitehorse.

Canada's highest point, Mount Logan (convert|5959|m|ft|0|abbr=on|disp=/), is found in the territory's southwest. Mount Logan and a large part of the Yukon's southwest are in Kluane National Park and Reserve, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Other national parks include Ivvavik National Park and Vuntut National Park in the north.

Most of the territory is in the watershed of its namesake, the Yukon River. The southern Yukon is dotted with a large number of large, long and narrow glacier-fed alpine lakes, most of which flow into the Yukon River system. The larger lakes include Teslin Lake, Atlin Lake, Tagish Lake, Marsh Lake, Lake Laberge, Kusawa Lake, and Kluane Lake. Bennett Lake on the Klondike Gold Rush trail is a lake flowing into Nares Lake, with the greater part of its area within the Yukon.

Other watersheds include the Mackenzie River and the Alsek-Tatshenshini, as well as a number of rivers flowing directly into the Beaufort Sea. The two main Yukon rivers flowing into the Mackenzie in the Northwest Territories are the Liard River in the southeast and the Peel River and its tributaries in the northeast.

The capital, Whitehorse, is also the largest city, with about two-thirds of the population; the second largest is Dawson City, (pop. 1,250) which was the capital until 1952.

History

Long before the arrival of Europeans, central and northern Yukon escaped glaciation as it was part of Beringia (Bering land bridge). Remains of human inhabitation were found near Old Crow appearing to be the oldest in North America. Around AD 800, the volcanic eruption of Mount Churchill near the Alaska border blanketed southern Yukon with a layer of ash which can still be seen along the Klondike Highway. Coastal and interior First Nations already had extensive trading networks and European incursions into the area only began early in the 19th century with the fur trade, followed by missionaries and the Western Union Telegraph Expedition. By the latter end of the 19th century gold miners were trickling in on rumours of gold, creating a population increase justifying the setting up of a police force, just in time for 1897's start of the Klondike Gold Rush. The increased population coming with the gold rush led to the separation of the Yukon district from the Northwest Territories and the formation of the separate Yukon Territory.

Demographics

Ethnicity

According to the 2001 Canadian census, [ [http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/cst01/demo26l.htm Population by selected ethnic origins, by province and territory (2001 Census) (Yukon Territory)] ] the largest ethnic group in Yukon is English (27.1%), followed by First Nations (22.3%), Scottish (21.9%), Irish (19.1%), German (14.3%), and French (13.4%) - although over a quarter of all respondents also identified their ethnicity as "Canadian."

The territory once had an Inuit settlement, located on Herschel Island off the Arctic coast. This settlement was dismantled in 1987 and its inhabitants relocated to the neighboring Northwest Territories. As a result of the Inuvialuit Final Agreement, the island is now a territorial park and is known officially as Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Qikiqtaruk being the name of the island in Inuvialuktun. There are also 14 First Nations that speak 8 different languages.

Communities

10 Largest Communities by population¹ Part of "Metro" Whitehorse Census Agglomeration

See also

*Prefecture Apostolic of Yukon
*List of Yukon premiers
*List of Yukon commissioners
*List of communities in Yukon
*List of Yukon general elections
*Yukon Members of Parliament
*List of Yukoners
*Yukon College
*Scouting in Yukon
*Yukon Energy Corporation
*History of the west coast of North America
*Yukon Quest
*Yukon Field Force

Notes

References

*Ken S. Coates and William R. Morrison (1988). "Land of the Midnight Sun: A History of the Yukon". Hurtig Publishers, Edmonton. ISBN 0-88830-331-9

External links

* [http://www.gov.yk.ca/ Yukon Government]
* [http://www.solon.org/Constitutions/Canada/English/yta_1898.html The 1898 Yukon Act]
* [http://laws.justice.gc.ca/en/Y-2.01/ The 2002 Yukon Act]
* [http://www.yukoninfo.com/ Yukon Attraction & Service Guides]
* [http://www.yukonterritorycanada.ca General Information Site]
* [http://www.airforcelodge.com/ Historic Air Force Building]
* [http://www.yukonromance.com/en/ Yukon Romance: Virtual Exhibit]
* [http://www.writeyukon.com/story_ideas/tales.asp?i=*D2*C4&a=*99*94T*7D*29 Tall Tales and True Stories of the Yukon]
* [http://www.immigrationyukon.com/ Immigration Yukon]
* [http://www.meetingsyukon.com/ Yukon Convention Bureau]
* [http://content.lib.washington.edu/ University of Washington Libraries: Digital Collections] :
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/meedweb/index.html William E. Meed Photographs] Photographs (ca. 1898-1907) of scenes in the Yukon Territory, Canada, and portions of Alaska and British Columbia during the Klondike gold rush.
** [http://content.lib.washington.edu/sarvantweb/index.html Henry M. Sarvant Photographs] 212 photographs by Henry Mason Sarvant depicting his climbing expeditions to Mt. Rainier and scenes of the vicinity from 1892-1912. Also included are images of his trip to the Klondike gold fields in 1897 documenting his journey over the Chilkoot Pass and subsequent mining activities in the vicinity of Dawson, Yukon Territory.
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-2365/politics_economy/yukon_elections/ CBC Digital Archives - Territorial Battles: Yukon Elections, 1978-2002]
* [http://archives.cbc.ca/IDD-1-73-295/politics_economy/pipeline/ CBC Digital Archives - The Berger Pipeline Inquiry]
* [http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0008773 An article on the Yukon Territory from "The Canadian Encyclopedia"]