Yellowknife (Northwest Territories) - geography.

Yellowknife (Northwest Territories) - geography. I INTRODUCTION Yellowknife (Northwest Territories), city, capital of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Yellowknife is an important mining center and a service depot for the Mackenzie River valley. It is by far the largest settlement, and the only incorporated city, in the Northwest Territories. Located on Yellowknife Bay (an arm of Great Slave Lake) in the Fort Smith Region of the territory, Yellowknife is isolated from the rest of Canada. The nearest major city, Edmonton, Alberta, is almost 1000 km (620 mi) to the south. The city is situated on a starkly beautiful landscape dominated by the rocky terrain of the Canadian Shield. The climate is marked by long, sunny summer days and a dark, often bitterly cold winter. The average daily temperature range is 12° to 21° C (54° to 69° F) in July and 32° to -24° C (-26° to -11° F) in January. The average annual precipitation is 267 mm (10.5 in). II PEOPLE Yellowknife has grown steadily in recent decades, from 5,867 people in 1971 to 15,179 in 1991. According to the 2001 census, the city's population was 16,541. About 17 percent of the population is indigenous, representing both Dene (Athapaskan-speaking) and Métis groups in the Mackenzie Valley. Nonindigenous people in Yellowknife, mostly of British or French descent, have historically been very transient, with sizable shifts in population tied to changes in mining and mineral exploration activities. III CITY LANDSCAPE Yellowknife covers a land area of 102 sq km (40 sq mi) and contains a mixture of old and new sites. Old Yellowknife, the original town site on Latham Island in Yellowknife Bay, is connected to the mainland by an automobile bridge. It has a number of...