Yukon

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Yukon

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's

Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean....
three territories. It was named after the Yukon River

Yukon River

The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America. Over half of the river lies in the U.S. state of Alaska, with most of the other portion lying in and giving its name to Canada Yukon Territory, and a small part of the river near the source located in British Columbia....
, Yukon meaning "Great River" in Gwich’in

Gwich’in language

The Gwich?in language is the Athabaskan languages of the Gwich?in indigenous people. In the Northwest Territories and Yukon of Canada, it is used principally in the towns of Inuvik, Aklavik, Northwest Territories, Fort McPherson, Northwest Territories, Old Crow, Yukon, and Tsiigehtchic, Northwest Territories....
.

Created in 1898 as the Yukon 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.

At 5,959 metres (19,551 ft), the Yukon's Mount Logan

Mount Logan

Mount Logan is Canada's highest mountain and the List of highest mountains of North America in North America, after Mount McKinley . The mountain was named after Sir William Edmond Logan, a Canadian geologist and founder of the Geological Survey of Canada ....
, in Kluane National Park and Reserve

Kluane National Park and Reserve

Kluane National Park and Reserve are two units of Canada's national park system, located in the extreme southwestern corner of Yukon Territory. Kluane National Park Reserve was established in 1972, covering 22,016 square kilometres....
, is the highest mountain in Canada and the second highest of North America

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
(after Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley or Denali in Alaska is the Extremes on Earth mountain peak in North America, at a height of approximately . It is the centerpiece of Denali National Park and Preserve....
in the U.S. state

U.S. state

A U.S. state is any one of the 50 state of the United States that share sovereignty with the federal government of the United States . Because of this shared sovereignty, an United States is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of Domicile ....
of Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
).

Geography
The sparsely populated territory abounds with snow-melt lakes and perennial snow-capped mountains.

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Encyclopedia

Yukon is the westernmost and smallest of Canada's

Canada

Yukon River

Gwich’in language

Mount Logan

Kluane National Park and Reserve

North America

North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and almost totally in the western hemisphere....
(after Mount McKinley

Mount McKinley

U.S. state

Alaska

Geography

The sparsely populated territory abounds with snow-melt lakes and perennial snow-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

U.S. state

Alaska

Northwest Territories

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
to the south. Its northern coast is on the Beaufort Sea

Beaufort Sea

The Beaufort Sea is the portion of the Arctic Ocean located north of the Northwest Territories, the Yukon, and Alaska and west of Canadian Arctic islands....
. Its ragged eastern boundary mostly follows the divide between the Yukon Basin and the Mackenzie River

Mackenzie River

The Mackenzie River originates in Great Slave Lake, in the Northwest Territories, and flows north into the Arctic Ocean. It is the longest river in Canada at 1,738 km and, together with its headstreams the Peace River and the Finlay River, the second longest river in North America at 4,241 km in length....
drainage basin

Drainage basin

A drainage basin is an extent of land where water from rain or snow melt drains downhill into a body of water, such as a river, lake, reservoir, estuary, wetland, sea or ocean....
to the east in the Mackenzie mountains. Its capital is Whitehorse

Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....
.

Canada's highest point, Mount Logan , 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

Kluane National Park and Reserve

World Heritage Site

A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a site that is on the list maintained by the international World Heritage Programme administered by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee, composed of 21 Sovereign state which are elected by their General Assembly for a four-year term....
. Other national parks include Ivvavik National Park

Ivvavik National Park

Ivvavik National Park is a national park located in the Yukon, Canada. Meaning "nursery" or "birthplace" in Inuvialuktun, this was the first national park to be established as a result of a land claim agreement with its natives....
and Vuntut National Park

Vuntut National Park

Vuntut National Park is a national park located in the northern Yukon, Canada. It was established in 1995. Yukon Land Claims negotiations, this national park is still very undeveloped....
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

Teslin Lake

Teslin Lake is a large lake spanning the border between British Columbia and Yukon Territory in Canada. It is one of a group of large lakes in the region of far northwestern BC, east of the upper Alaska Panhandle, which are the southern extremity of the basin of the Yukon River, and which are known in the Yukon as "the Southern Lakes" ....
, Atlin Lake

Atlin Lake

Atlin Lake is a lake in northwestern British Columbia and is that province's largest natural lake. The northern tip of the lake is in the Yukon, as is Little Atlin Lake....
, Tagish Lake

Tagish Lake

Tagish Lake is a lake in the Yukon Territory and northern British Columbia, Canada. The lake is more than 100 km long and about 2 km wide.It has two arms, the Taku Arm in the east which is very long and mostly in British Columbia and Windy Arm in the west, mostly in the Yukon....
, Marsh Lake

Marsh Lake

Marsh Lake is a widening of the Yukon River southeast of Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon, Canada. It is over 30 kilometres long and ranges from three to four kilometres wide....
, Lake Laberge

Lake Laberge

Lake Laberge is a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon in Canada. It is over 50 kilometres long and ranges from two to five kilometres wide....
, Kusawa Lake, and Kluane Lake

Kluane Lake

Kluane Lake is located in the southwest area of the Yukon. At approximately 400 square kilometres, and 70 kilometres long, it is the largest lake contained entirely within the territorial border....
. 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

Alsek River

The Alsek River is a wilderness river flowing from the Yukon into Northern British Columbia and into Alaska. The surrounding area from the Western edge of the Alsek to East of the East Alsek is known to locals as Dry Bay....
-Tatshenshini

Tatshenshini River

The Tatshenshini River is a river in the southwestern Yukon and the northwestern corner of British Columbia. It originates in British Columbia, near Haines Highway....
, 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

Liard River

The Liard River flows through the Yukon Territory, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada. Rising in the Saint Cyr Range of the Pelly Mountains in southeastern Yukon, it flows 1,115 km southeast through British Columbia, marking the northern end of the Rocky Mountains and then curving northeast back into the Yukon and Northw...
in the southeast and the Peel River

Peel River (Canada)

The Peel River is a tributary of the Mackenzie River in the Yukon and Northwest Territories in Canada. Its source is in the Ogilvie Mountains in the central Yukon at the confluence of the Ogilvie River and Blackstone River ....
and its tributaries in the northeast.

The capital, Whitehorse

Whitehorse, Yukon

Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....
, is also the largest city, with about two-thirds of the population; the second largest is Dawson City

Dawson City, Yukon

The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the Canada 2006 Census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year....
, (pop. 1,250) which was the capital until 1952.

History

Long before the arrival of Europeans, central and northern Yukon escaped glaciation

Glacier

A glacier is a large, slow-moving mass of ice, formed from compacted layers of snow, that slowly deforms and flows in response to gravity and high pressure....
as it was part of Beringia (Bering land bridge

Bering land bridge

The Bering land bridge was a land bridge roughly 1,000 miles north to south at its greatest extent, which joined present-day Alaska and eastern Siberia at various times during the Pleistocene ice ages....
). Remains of human inhabitation were found near Old Crow

Old Crow, Yukon

Old Crow had 267 inhabitants in 2008, most of them belonging to the Gwich'in language-speaking Aboriginal peoples in Canada Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation....
appearing to be the oldest in North America. Around AD 800, the volcanic

Volcano

A volcano is an opening, or rupture, in a planet's surface or Crust , which allows hot, molten rock, ash, and gases to escape from below the surface....
eruption of Mount Churchill

Mount Churchill

Mount Churchill is a volcano in the Saint Elias Mountains and the Wrangell Volcanic Field of eastern Alaska. Churchill and its higher neighbor Mount Bona about to the southwest are both large ice-covered stratovolcanoes, with Churchill being the fourth highest volcano in the United States and the seventh highest in North America....
near the Alaska

Alaska

Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait....
border blanketed southern Yukon with a layer of ash

Volcanic ash

Volcanic ash consists of small tephra, which are bits of pulverized rock and glass created by volcano eruptions, less than in diameter. There are three mechanisms of volcanic ash formation: gas release under decompression causing magmatic eruptions; thermal contraction from chilling on contact with water causing phreatomagmatic eruptions...
which can still be seen along the Klondike Highway

Klondike Highway

The Klondike Highway links the Alaskan coastal town of Skagway, Alaska to Yukon's Dawson City, Yukon and its route somewhat parallels that used by prospectors in the 1898 Klondike Gold Rush....
. Coastal and interior First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor M?tis people....
already had extensive trading networks and European incursions into the area only began early in the 19th century with the fur trade

Fur trade

The fur trade is a worldwide industry dealing in the acquisition and sale of animal fur....
, followed by missionaries

Missionary

A 'missionary' is a member of a religion who works to convert those who do not share the missionary's faith; someone who Proselytism. The word "mission" is derived from the Latin missioninimus...
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

Klondike Gold Rush

The Klondike Gold Rush, sometimes referred to as the Yukon Gold Rush or Alaska Gold Rush, was a frenzy of gold rush immigration to and for gold prospecting, along the Klondike River near Dawson City, Yukon, Canada after gold was discovered there in the late 19th century....
. 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 in 1898.

Demographics

Ethnicity

According to the 2001 Canadian census

Canada 2001 Census

The Canada 2001 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada population. Census day was May 15 2001. On that day, Statistics Canada attempted to count every person in Canada....
, the largest ethnic group in Yukon is English

English people

The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England who speak English language in England. The English identity as a people is of early medieval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn....
(27.1%), followed by First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor M?tis people....
(22.3%), Scottish

Scottish people

The Scots people are a nation and an ethnic group indigenous to Scotland.Historically, as an ethnic group, they emerged from an amalgamation of Celts, Picts, Gaels and Brythons....
(21.9%), Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are a Western European ethnic group who originate in Ireland, in north western Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolgs, Tuatha D? Danann and the Milesians ?the last group supposedly representing the "pure" Gaelic a...
(19.1%), German (14.3%), and French

French people

French people can refer to:* The legal residents and citizens of France, regardless of ancestry. For a legal discussion, see French nationality law....
(13.4%) - although over a quarter of all respondents also identified their ethnicity as "Canadian."

Yukon's eight First Nations linguistic groupings and 14 tribes/clans
Linguistic Grouping	Tribe
Gwich’in Gwich’in The Gwich'in , literally "one who dwells" and "I think", are a First Nations/Alaska Native people who live in the northwestern part of North America mostly above the Arctic Circle....	Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is a First Nation in the northern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Old Crow, Yukon. As the name indicates, the language originally spoken by the people is Gwich'in language.... , Old Crow Old Crow, Yukon Old Crow had 267 inhabitants in 2008, most of them belonging to the Gwich'in language-speaking Aboriginal peoples in Canada Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation....
Han Hän language The H?n language is a Indigenous peoples of the Americas endangered language spoken in only two places: Eagle, Alaska and Dawson City, Yukon. There are only a few fluent speakers left , all of them elderly....	Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation The Tr?ond?k Hw?ch?in is a First Nations located in the central Yukon, Canada. Its main population centre is Dawson City, Yukon.Many of today?s Tr?ond?k Hw?ch?in, or people of the river, are descendants of the H?n language people who have lived along the Yukon River for thousands of years.... , Dawson City Dawson City, Yukon The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the Canada 2006 Census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year....
Upper Tanana Upper Tanana language Upper Tanana is an endangered language Athabaskan language spoken in eastern Interior Alaska, mainly in the villages of Northway, Alaska, Tetlin, Alaska, and Tok, Alaska, and adjacent areas of Canada Yukon Territory....	White River First Nation White River First Nation The White River First Nation is a First Nation in the western Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Beaver Creek, Yukon. The language originally spoken by the contemporary membership of the White River First Nation were the Athapaskan languages of Upper Tanana, whose traditional territory extends from the Donjek River into... , Beaver Creek Beaver Creek, Yukon Beaver Creek is a community in Yukon, Canada.Located at Kilometre 1,934 of the Alaska Highway, close to the Alaska-Yukon border, it is Canada's westernmost community.... Small communities near Tok Tok, Alaska Tok is a census-designated place in Southeast Fairbanks Census Area, Alaska, Alaska, United States. The population was 1,393 at the United States Census, 2000.... ( Alaska Alaska Alaska is the largest U.S. state of the United States by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait.... )
Northern Tutchone Northern Tutchone The Northern Tutchone are a First Nations people living mainly in the central Yukon in Canada. The Northern Tutchone language, originally spoken by the Northern Tutchone people, is a lect of the Tutchone language, part of the Athabaskan languages....	Selkirk First Nation Selkirk First Nation The Selkirk First Nation is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centre was the trading post of Selkirk, Yukon along the Yukon River, but most of its citizens now live in Pelly Crossing, Yukon where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River.... Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation The Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centre were Little Salmon, Yukon, but most of its citizens live in Carmacks, Yukon.... First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun The First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is in Mayo, Yukon, but many of its members live across Canada and the United States.... , Mayo
Southern Tutchone Southern Tutchone The Southern Tutchone are a First Nations people living mainly in the southern Yukon in Canada. The Southern Tutchone language, originally spoken by the Southern Tutchone people is a lect of the Tutchone language, part of the Athabaskan languages, although it may be argued that Northern and Southern Tutchone are separate languages....	Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Champagne and Aishihik First Nations The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centres were Champagne, Yukon and Aishihik, Yukon, but most of its citizens moved to Haines Junction, Yukon to take advantage of services offered there such as schools.... , Haines Junction Haines Junction, Yukon Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community.... Kluane First Nation Kluane First Nation The Kluane First Nation is a small First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Burwash Landing, Yukon on Kluane Lake along the Alaska Highway.... , Burwash Landing Burwash Landing, Yukon Burwash Landing is a small community, at historical mile 1093 on the Alaska Highway, in the Yukon, Canada along the southern shore of Kluane Lake.... Ta'an Kwach'an Council Ta'an Kwach'an Council The Ta'an Kwach'an Council is a First Nation in Whitehorse, Yukon and Lake Laberge area in Canada's Yukon Territory. It split from the Kwanlin D?n First Nation to negotiate a separate land claim.... , Lake Laberge Lake Laberge Lake Laberge is a widening of the Yukon River north of Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon in Canada. It is over 50 kilometres long and ranges from two to five kilometres wide.... Kwanlin Dün First Nation Kwanlin Dün First Nation The Kwanlin D?n First Nation is located in and around Whitehorse, Yukon in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It is the largest First Nation in the Yukon.... , Whitehorse Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....
Kaska Kaska The Kaska or Kaska Dena are a First Nations people living mainly in northern British Columbia and the southeastern Yukon in Canada. The Kaska language originally spoken by the Kaska is an Athabaskan languages....	Ross River Dena Council Ross River Dena Council The Ross River Dena Council is a First Nation in the eastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Ross River, Yukon at the junction of the Campbell Highway and the Canol Road, near the confluence of the Pelly River and the Ross River .... , Ross River Ross River, Yukon Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway.... Liard River First Nation Liard River First Nation The Liard River First Nation, also known s the Liard First Nation is a First Nation in the southeastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centres are Upper Liard, Yukon and Watson Lake, Yukon along the Alaska Highway.... , Watson Lake Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....
Inland Tlingit Tlingit The Tlingit are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their name for themselves is *Ling?t* , meaning "people". The Russian language name *Koloshi* or the related German language name *Koulischen* may be encountered in older historical literature....	Teslin Tlingit Council Teslin Tlingit Council The Teslin Tlingit Council is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada, located in Teslin, Yukon along the Alaska Highway and Teslin Lake....
Tagish Tagish The Tagish or Tagish Khw?an are a group of Athabaskan First Nation people that lived around Tagish Lake and Marsh Lake, in the Yukon Territory of Canada....	Carcross/Tagish First Nation Carcross/Tagish First Nation The Carcross/Tagish First Nation is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centres were Carcross, Yukon and Tagish, Yukon, although many of its citizens also live in Whitehorse, Yukon....

Language

The 2006 Canadian census

Canada 2006 Census

The Canada 2006 Census was a detailed enumeration of the Canada population. Census day was May 16 2006. The next census following will be the Canada 2011 Census....
showed a population of 30,372.

Of the 29,940 singular responses to the census question concerning 'mother tongue' the most commonly reported languages were:

1.	English	25,655	85.69%
2.	French	1,105	3.69%
3.	German	775	2.59%
4.	Chinese	260	0.87%
5.	Tagalog	145	0.48%
6.	Dutch	140	0.47%
7.	Spanish	130	0.43%
8.	Vietnamese	105	0.35%
9.	Hungarian	80	0.27%
10.	Punjabi	80	0.27%
11.	Gwich'in	75	0.25%
12.	Tlingit	70	0.23%

There were also 130 responses of both English and a 'non-official language'; 10 of both French and a 'non-official language'; 110 of both English and French; and about 175 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. The Yukon's official languages are shown in bold. Figures shown are for the number of single-language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

The Language Act of the Yukon "recognizes the significance" of aboriginal languages in the Yukon; however, only English and French are available for laws, court proceedings, and legislative assembly proceedings.

Religion

The Yukon's population is highly secularized. The largest denominations by number of adherents according to the 2001 census were the Roman Catholic Church

Roman Catholic Church

The Roman Catholic Church, officially known as the Catholic Church is the world's largest Christianity Ecclesia , representing over half of all Christians and one-sixth of the world population....
with 5,985 (21 %); the Anglican Church of Canada

Anglican Church of Canada

The Anglican Church of Canada is the sole Canada representative of the Anglican Communion. The official French name is l'?glise Anglicane du Canada....
with 3,795 (13 %); and the United Church of Canada

United Church of Canada

The United Church of Canada, one of the largest Christian churches in Canada, is an evangelical Protestant denomination with strong Methodist and Presbyterian roots....
with 2,105 (7 %).

Economy

The Yukon's historical major industry has been mining

Mining

Mining is the extraction of value minerals or other geology materials from the earth, usually from an ore body, vein or seam. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, Sodium chloride and potash....
(lead

Lead

Lead is a main-group Chemical element with symbol Pb and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft, malleable poor metal, also considered to be one of the heavy metal ....
, zinc

Zinc

Zinc is a metallic chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is a first-row transition metal of the group 12 element of the periodic table....
, silver

Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
, gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
, asbestos

Asbestos

Asbestos is a naturally occurring silicate mineral with long, thin fibrous crystals. The word asbestos is derived from a Greek language adjective meaning inextinguishable....
and copper

Copper

Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu and atomic number 29.It is a ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity....
). The government acquired the land from the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

The Hudson's Bay Company , abbreviated HBC, is the oldest commercial corporation in North America and is one of the oldest in the world. The company was incorporated by British royal charter in 1670 as The Governor and Company of Adventurers of England trading into Hudson's Bay; it is now domiciled in Canada and has adopted the mo...
in 1870 and split it from the Northwest Territories

Northwest Territories

The Northwest Territories are a provinces and territories of Canada of Canada.Located in northern Canada, it borders Canada's two other territories, Yukon to the west and Nunavut to the east, and three provinces: British Columbia to the southwest, Alberta and Saskatchewan to the south....
in 1898 to fill the need for local government created by the population influx of the gold rush.

Thousands of these prospectors flooded the territory, creating a colourful period recorded by authors such as Robert W. Service

Robert W. Service

Robert William Service was a poet and writer, sometimes referred to as "the Bard of the Yukon". He is best-known for his writings on the Canadian North, including the poems "The Shooting of Dan McGrew", "The Law of the Yukon", and "The Cremation of Sam McGee"....
and Jack London

Jack London

Jack London was an American author who wrote The Call of the Wild, White Fang, and The Sea Wolf along with many other popular books....
. The memory of this period and the early days of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police

Royal Canadian Mounted Police

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is the federal police, national police, and paramilitary police force of Canada, and one of the most recognized of its kind in the world....
, as well as the territory's scenic wonders and outdoor recreation opportunities, makes tourism

Tourism

Tourism is travel for recreational or leisure purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people who "travel to and stay in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes not related to the exercise of an activity remunerated from...
the second most important industry.

Manufacturing, including furniture, clothing, and handicrafts, follows in importance, along with hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity

Hydroelectricity is electricity generated by hydropower, i.e., the production of power through use of the gravitational force of falling or flowing water....
. The traditional industries of trapping and fishing

Fishing

Fishing is the activity of catching fish. Fishing techniques include Fish net, Fish trap, Spearfishing, angling and Gathering seafood by hand. The term fishing may be applied to catching other aquatic animals such as different types of shellfish, squid, octopus, turtles, Edible frog and some edible marine invertebrates....
have declined. Today, the government sector is by far the biggest employer in the territory, directly employing approximately 5,000 out of a labour force of 12,500.

Tourism

Yukon's tourism motto is "Larger than life". The Yukon's major appeal is its nearly pristine nature. Tourism relies heavily on this, and there are many organised outfitter

Outfitter

An outfitter is a shop or person that sells men's clothes . More specifically, it is a company or individual who provides or deals in equipment and supplies for the pursuit of certain activities....
s and guide

Guide

A guide is a person who leads people through unknown or unmapped country, or conducts travellers and tourists through a place of interest....
s available to hunters

Hunting

Hunting is the practice of pursuing living animals for food, recreation, or trade. In present-day use, the term refers to lawful hunting, as distinguished from poaching, which is the killing, trapping or capture of the hunted species contrary to law....
and anglers

Fisherman

A fisherman or fisher is someone who gathers shellfish, or captures fish and other animals from a body of water. Worldwide, there are about 38 million Commercial fishing and Artisan fishing fishermen and fish farmers....
and nature lovers of all sorts. Sports enthusiasts can paddle lakes and rivers with canoe

Canoe

A canoe is a small narrow boat, typically human-powered, though it may also be powered by sails or small electric or gas motors. Canoes usually are pointed at both bow and stern and are normally open on top, but can be covered....
s and kayak

Kayak

A kayak is a small human-powered boat. It typically has a covered deck, and a cockpit covered by a spraydeck. The kayak was used by the native Ainu people, Aleuts and Eskimo hunters in sub-Arctic regions of northeastern Asia, North America and Greenland....
s, ride or walk trails, ski

Ski

A ski is a long, flat device worn on the feet designed to help the wearer slide smoothly over snow. Originally intended as an aid to travel in snowy regions, they are now primarily used for recreational and sporting purposes....
or snowboard

Snowboard

A snowboard is a thin, hourglass shaped board ridden down a sloped section of earth covered in snow. Snowboards generally have a length between 140-165 cm and a width between 24 and 27 cm....
in an organized setting or access the backcountry

Backcountry skiing

Backcountry skiing is skiing in a sparsely inhabited rural region over ungroomed and unmarked slopes or pistes, including skiing in unmarked or unpatrolled areas either within the ski resort's boundaries or in the backcountry, frequently amongst trees , usually in pursuit of fresh fallen snow, known as snow....
by air or snowmobile

Snowmobile

A snowmobile, also known in some places as a snowmachine, is a land vehicle for travel on snow that is commonly propelled by a continuous track or tracks at the rear and steered by skis at the front....
, climb the highest peaks of North America or take a family hike up smaller mountains, or try ice climbing

Ice climbing

Ice climbing, as the term indicates, is the activity of ascending inclined ice formations. Usually, ice climbing refers to roped and protected climbing of features such as icefalls, frozen waterfalls, and cliffs and rock slabs covered with ice refrozen from flows of water....
and dog sled

Dog sled

A dog sled is a sled pulled by one or more sled dogs used to travel over ice and through snow. Numerous types of sleds are used, depending on their function....
ding. The Yukon also has a wide array of cultural and sporting events and infrastructures that attract artist

Artist

The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of activities to do with creating art, practicing the arts and/or demonstrating an art....
s, participants and tourists from all parts of the world (Yukon International Storytelling Festival

Yukon International Storytelling Festival

The Yukon International Storytelling Festival is held every Summer in Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon, generally in an outdoor setting. The storytelling festival was conceived in the mid 1980s when one the Yukon's last Tagish language speakers found herself going to the to disseminate her peoples' stories to a world audience....
, Frostbite Music Festival, Dawson Music Festival, Yukon Quest

Yukon Quest

The Yukon Quest 1,000-mile International Sled Dog Race or Yukon Quest for short, is an annual sled dog race between Fairbanks, Alaska, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon....
, Sourdough Rendezvous, the Yukon Beringia Interpretive Centre, Northern Lights Centre, Klondike Gold Rush memorials and activities, "Takhini Hot Springs", and the Whitehorse fish ladder.

There are many opportunities to experience pre-colonial lifestyles by learning about Yukon's First Nations. Wildlife and nature observation is exceptional and a wide variety of large mammal

Mammal

Mammals are a class of vertebrate animals whose name is derived from their distinctive feature, mammary glands, with which they feed their young....
s, bird

Bird

Birds are wing, Bipedalismal, endothermic , vertebrate animals that lay egg . There are around 10,000 living species, making them the most numerous tetrapod vertebrates....
s, and fish

Fish

A fish is any marine biology vertebrate animal that is typically ectothermic , covered with scale , and equipped with two sets of paired fins and several unpaired fins....
are easily accessible, whether or not within Yukon's many territorial park

Park

A park is a Environmental protection, in its natural or semi-natural state or planted, and set aside for human recreation and enjoyment....
s (Herschel Island Qikiqtaruk Territorial Park, Tombstone Territorial Park, Fishing Branch Ni'iinlii'njik Park, Coal River Springs Territorial Park) and national parks (Kluane National Park and Reserve

Kluane National Park and Reserve

Vuntut National Park

Ivvavik National Park

Nature reserve

A nature reserve is a protected area of importance for wildlife, flora , fauna or features of geological or other special interest, which is reserved and managed for Conservation ethic and to provide special opportunities for study or research....
, or nearby Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park

Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park

Liard River Hot Springs Provincial Park is a provincial park in British Columbia, Canada. It is home to the second largest hot spring in Canada....
in British Columbia

British Columbia

British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's Provinces and territories of Canada and is famed for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu ....
.

On the long cold clear nights of winter, nature provides the ultimate natural spectacle in the form of aurora borealis

Aurora (astronomy)

Auroras, sometimes called the northern and southern lights or aurorae , are natural light displays in the sky, usually observed at night sky, particularly in the Geographical pole....
.

Transportation

Before modern forms of transportation, the rivers and mountain passes were the main transportation routes for the coastal Tlingit

Tlingit

The Tlingit are an Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast. Their name for themselves is Ling?t , meaning "people". The Russian language name Koloshi or the related German language name Koulischen may be encountered in older historical literature....
people trading with the Athabascans of which the Chilkoot Pass

Chilkoot Pass

Chilkoot Pass is a high mountain pass through the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett Lake, British Columbia....
and Dalton Trail

Dalton Trail

The Dalton Trail is a trail that runs between Pyramid Harbor, west of Haines, Alaska in the United States, and Fort Selkirk, in the Yukon of Canada, using the Chilkat Pass....
, as well as the first Europeans.

From the Gold Rush until the 1950s, riverboats plied the Yukon River, mostly between Whitehorse and Dawson City, with some making their way further to Alaska and over to the Bering Sea

Bering Sea

The Bering Sea is a body of water in the Pacific Ocean that comprises a deep water basin, which then rises through a narrow slope into the shallower water above the continental shelf....
, and other tributaries of Yukon River such as the Stewart River. Most of the riverboats were owned by the British-Yukon Navigation Company, an arm of the White Pass and Yukon Route

White Pass and Yukon Route

The White Pass and Yukon Route is a Canadian and U.S. Class II narrow gauge railway linking the port of Skagway, Alaska with Whitehorse, Yukon, the capital of Canada's Yukon Territory....
, which also operated a narrow gauge railway between Skagway, Alaska

Skagway, Alaska

Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska, on the Alaska Panhandle. It was formerly a city first incorporated in 1900 that was re-incorporated as a borough on June 25, 2007....
, and Whitehorse. The railway ceased operation in the 1980s with the first closure of the Faro

Faro, Yukon

Faro is a small town in the central Yukon, Canada, formerly the home of the largest open pit lead-zinc mine in the world as well as a significant producer of silver and other natural resource ventures....
mine. It is now run during the summer months for the tourism season, with operations as far as Carcross

Carcross, Yukon

Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, is an unincorporated community in the Territory of Yukon, Canada on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake....
.

Today, major land routes include the Alaska Highway

Alaska Highway

The Alaska Highway was constructed during World War II and connects the contiguous U.S. to Alaska through Canada. It runs from Dawson Creek, British Columbia, British Columbia to Delta Junction, Alaska, via Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon....
, the Klondike Highway

Klondike Highway

Haines Highway

The Haines Highway or Haines Cut-Off is a highway that connects Haines, Alaska, in the United States, with Haines Junction, Yukon, Canada, passing through the province of British Columbia....
(between Haines, Alaska

Haines, Alaska

Haines is a census-designated place in Haines Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States. As of the 2000 United States Census, the population of the area was 1,811....
, and Haines Junction

Haines Junction, Yukon

Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community....
), and the Dempster Highway

Dempster Highway

The Dempster Highway, also referred to as Yukon Highway 5 and Northwest Territories Highway 8, is a highway that connects the Klondike Highway in the Yukon Territory of Canada to Inuvik, Northwest Territories, Northwest Territories on the Mackenzie River river delta....
(linking Inuvik, Northwest Territories

Inuvik, Northwest Territories

Inuvik, , is a town in the Northwest Territories of Canada and is the administrative centre for the Inuvik Region.The population as of the Canada 2006 Census was 3,484, but the two previous census counts show wide fluctuations due to economic conditions: 2,894 in Canada 2001 Census and 3,296 in Canada 1996 Census....
to the Klondike Highway), all paved except for the Dempster. Other highways with less traffic include the "Robert Campbell Highway

Robert Campbell Highway

The Robert Campbell Highway or Campbell Highway is a road between Watson Lake, Yukon on the Alaska Highway to Carmacks, Yukon on the Klondike Highway....
" link ing Carmacks

Carmacks, Yukon

Carmacks is a village in the Yukon on the Yukon River along the Klondike Highway, and at the west end of the Robert Campbell Highway from Watson Lake....
(on the Klondike Highway) to Watson Lake

Watson Lake, Yukon

Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....
(Alaska Highway) via Faro and Ross River

Ross River, Yukon

Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway....
, and the "Silver Trail

Silver Trail

The Silver Trail connects the communities of Mayo, Yukon, Elsa, Yukon and Keno City, Yukon with the Klondike Highway at Stewart Crossing, where that highway crosses the Stewart River....
" linking the old silver mining communities of Mayo, Elsa

Elsa, Yukon

Elsa was a privately-owned mining town based on silver, lead, and zinc in Yukon, Canada. It is located at , between the valley of the Stewart River, Canada to the south and the Mackenzie Mountains, Canada to the north....
and Keno City

Keno City, Yukon

Keno City is a small community in the Yukon at the end of the Silver Trail highway. Population was about 20 in 2001. Site of a former silver-lead mining area on Keno Hill, Keno City is 13 kilometres away from Elsa, Yukon, which long eclipsed Keno City in population....
to the Klondike Highway at the Stewart River bridge. Air travel is the only way to reach the far north community of Old Crow.

Whitehorse International Airport

Whitehorse International Airport

Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport is located in Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon, Canada. It is part of the National Airports System , and is operated by the government of the Yukon Territory....
serves as the air transport infrastructure hub, with direct flights to Vancouver

Vancouver

Vancouver is a coastal city and major seaport located in the Lower Mainland of southwestern British Columbia, Canada. It is the largest city in British Columbia and the second largest metropolitan area in the Pacific Northwest region....
, Calgary

Calgary

Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and High Plains, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies....
, Edmonton

Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canada Provinces and territories of Canada of Alberta. The city is located on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farmland on the prairies....
, Fairbanks

Fairbanks, Alaska

Fairbanks is a Devolution City in and the county seat of the Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska, Alaska, United States.Fairbanks is the largest city in the Alaska Interior region of Alaska, and second largest in the state behind Anchorage, Alaska....
, and Frankfurt

Frankfurt

is the largest city in the German States of Germany of Hesse and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants in Germany, with a 2008 population of 670,000....
(summer months). Every Yukon community is served by an airport

List of airports in the Yukon

This is a complete list of airports, water aerodromes and heliports in the Canada territory of the Yukon....
. The communities of Dawson City, Old Crow, and Inuvik, have regular passenger service through Air North

Air North

Air North Charter and Training Ltd., operating as Air North, Yukon's Airline is an airline based in Whitehorse, Yukon, Yukon, Canada. It operates scheduled passenger, charter, cargo and ground handling services throughout the Yukon, with extensions to Calgary, Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, Fairbanks, Alaska, Inuvik, Northwest Territories,...
. Air charter businesses exist primarily to serve the tourism and mining exploration industries.

Government and politics

In the 19th century, Yukon was a segment of the Hudson's Bay Company

Hudson's Bay Company

North-Western Territory

The North-Western Territory was a region of British North America until 1870. Named for where it lay in relation to Rupert's Land, the territory at its greatest extent covered what is now Yukon, mainland Northwest Territories, northwestern mainland Nunavut, northwestern Saskatchewan, northern Alberta and northern British Columbia....
and then the Canadian-administered Northwest Territories. It only obtained a recognizable local government in 1895 when it became a separate district of the Northwest Territories. In 1898, it was made a separate territory with its own commissioner and appointed Territorial Council.

Prior to 1979, the territory was administered by the commissioner

Commissioner

Commissioner is in principal the title given to the holder of a commission, in the sense of a mandate, whether individually or shared, notably as member of a collegial commission....
who is appointed by the federal Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development

Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development (Canada)

The Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development is the Minister of the Crown in the Cabinet of Canada who heads two different departments....
. The commissioner used to chair and had a role in appointing the territory's Executive Council and had a day to day role in governing the territory. The elected Territorial Council had a purely advisory role. In 1979, a significant degree of power was devolved

Devolution

Devolution is the Statute granting of powers from the central government of a state to government at a subnational level, such as a regional, local, or state level....
from the federal government and commissioner to the territorial legislature which, in that year, adopted a party system of responsible government

Responsible government

Responsible government is a conception of a system of government that embodies the principle of parliamentary accountability which is the foundation of the Westminster system of parliamentary democracy....
. This was done through a letter from Jake Epp

Jake Epp

Arthur Jacob "Jake" Epp, Queen's Privy Council for Canada is an executive and former Canada politician.Born into a Mennonite family in Manitoba, Jake Epp was a high school history teacher in Steinbach, Manitoba before entering politics....
, the Minister of Indian Affairs and Northern Development rather than through formal legislation.

The Yukon Act, passed on April 1, 2003, formalised the powers of the Yukon government and devolved additional powers to the territorial government (e.g., control over land and natural resources). As of 2003, other than criminal prosecutions, the Yukon government has much of the same powers as provincial governments, and the other two territories are looking to obtaining the same powers. Today the role of commissioner is analogous to that of a provincial lieutenant governor

Lieutenant governor

A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction. In the United States and many Commonwealth of Nations systems, lieutenant governors are usually deputy heads of state....
; however, unlike lieutenant-governors, commissioners are not formal representatives of the Queen but are employees of the federal government.

In preparation for responsible government

Responsible government

Yukon Legislative Assembly

The Yukon Legislative Assembly is the legislative assembly for Yukon, Canada. It is located in Whitehorse, Yukon....
for the first time in 1978. The Progressive Conservatives

Yukon Party

The Yukon Party is a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was previously known as the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party....
won these elections and formed the first party government of Yukon in January 1979. The Yukon New Democratic Party

Yukon New Democratic Party

The Yukon New Democratic Party is a Social democracy political party in the Yukon territory of Canada.The Yukon NDP formed the government of the territory under the leadership of Tony Penikett from 1985 to 1992, and under the leadership of Piers McDonald from 1996 to 2000....
(NDP) formed the government from 1985 to 1992 under Tony Penikett

Tony Penikett

Antony David John Penikett is a mediator and negotiator and former politician in Yukon, Canada. An activist with the New Democratic Party , Penikett was campaign manager in 1972 for Wally Firth, the first indigenous northern MP ever elected to the House of Commons....
and again from 1996 under Piers McDonald

Piers McDonald

Piers McDonald is a Yukon politician and trade unionist.Born in Kingston, Ontario, McDonald, a miner by profession, was vice-president of the Yukon Federation of Labour from 1981-1982....
until being defeated in 2000. The conservatives returned to power in 1992 under John Ostashek

John Ostashek

John Ostashek was a former Yukon politician. An entrepreneur, he was elected leader of the Yukon Party in June 1992 and led it to victory in the fall 1992 election in which he also won a seat in the legislature for the first time....
after having renamed themselves the Yukon Party

Yukon Party

The Yukon Party is a conservative political party in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It was previously known as the Yukon Progressive Conservative Party....
. The Liberal

Yukon Liberal Party

The Yukon Liberal Party is a political party in the Yukon Territory in Canada. After twenty years as a minor party, the Yukon Liberal Party won the 2000 general election and formed a government under Premier Pat Duncan ....
government of Pat Duncan

Pat Duncan

Pat Duncan was a Liberal politician in the Yukon, Canada, elected from 1996-2006. Duncan served as leader of the Yukon Liberal Party from 1998-2005 and served as Premier of Yukon from 2000 until 2002....
was defeated in elections in November 2002, with Dennis Fentie

Dennis Fentie

Dennis G. Fentie is a Canada politician. He is the current Premier of Yukon and leader of the Yukon Party, as well as the incumbent Yukon Legislative Assembly for Watson Lake ....
of the Yukon Party forming the government as Premier

Premier (Canada)

In Canada, a premier is the head of government of a Provinces and territories of Canada. There are currently ten provincial premiers and three territorial premiers in Canada....
.

Although there has been discussion in the past about Yukon becoming Canada's 11th province, it is generally felt that its population base is too sparse for this to occur at present.

At the federal level, the territory is presently represented in the Parliament of Canada

Parliament of Canada

The Parliament of Canada is Canada's legislature, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Ontario. The Governor General of Canada appoints the 105 members of the upper house, the Canadian Senate, on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada....
by a single Member of Parliament

Member of Parliament

A Member of Parliament, or MP, is a representative of the voters to a parliament. In many countries the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a unique title, such as senate, and thus also have unique titles for its members, such as senators....
and one senator. Canadian territories' members of Parliament are full and equal voting representatives and residents of the territory enjoy the same rights as other Canadian citizens. One Yukon Member of Parliament — Erik Nielsen

Erik Nielsen

Erik Hersholt Nielsen, Distinguished Flying Cross , Queen's Counsel, Queen's Privy Council for Canada was a Canada politician, and longtime Progressive Conservative Party of Canada Member of Parliament of Canada for Yukon ....
— was the Deputy Prime Minister

Deputy Prime Minister of Canada

The Deputy Prime Minister of Canada is an honorary position in the Cabinet of Canada, conferred at the discretion of the Prime Minister of Canada....
under the government of Brian Mulroney

Brian Mulroney

Martin Brian Mulroney, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Order of Canada, National Order of Quebec was the List of Prime Ministers of Canada Prime Minister of Canada from September 17, 1984, to June 25, 1993 and was leader of the Progressive Conservative Party of Canada from 1983 to 1993....
, while another — Audrey McLaughlin

Audrey McLaughlin

Audrey McLaughlin, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Order of Canada was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian Pr...
— was the leader of the federal New Democratic Party

New Democratic Party

The New Democratic Party is a political party in Canada with a progressivism social democracy philosophy that contests elections at both the federal and provincial levels....
.

Yukon was one of nine jurisdictions in Canada to offer same-sex marriage

Same-sex marriage in Yukon

Same-sex marriage in Yukon began on July 14, 2004, when Yukon Territory became the fourth jurisdiction in Canada to legalize same-sex marriage, after the provinces of Ontario, British Columbia, and Quebec....
before the passage of Canada's Civil Marriage Act

Civil Marriage Act

The Civil Marriage Act was legislation legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada. It was introduced as Bill C-38 in the first session of the 38th Canada Parliament of Canada on February 1, 2005....
.

Federal government representation

In the Canadian House of Commons

Canadian House of Commons

The House of Commons is a component of the Parliament of Canada, along with the Canadian monarchy and the Senate of Canada. The House of Commons is a democracy elected body, consisting of 40th Canadian Parliament known as Members of Parliament ....
, Yukon is represented by Larry Bagnell

Larry Bagnell

Lawrence "Larry" Bagnell, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Member of Parliament is a Canada politician.Bagnell is currently a Liberal Party of Canada Member of Parliament in the Canadian House of Commons, representing the riding of Yukon since Canadian federal election, 2000 where he won a closely contested election against Louise Hardy...
, representing the Liberal Party

Liberal Party of Canada

The Liberal Party of Canada , colloquially known as the Grits, is a major political party in Canada. The party is positioned in the centre-left of the Politics of Canada....
. Mr. Bagnell was first elected to the House of Commons in 2000. Previous Members of Parliament include Louise Hardy

Louise Hardy

Louise Frances Hardy was a Canada New Democratic Party Canadian House of Commons for the riding of Yukon from 1997 to 2000, becoming the territory's first Yukon-born MP....
(NDP, 1997-2000), Audrey McLaughlin

Audrey McLaughlin

Audrey McLaughlin, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Order of Canada was leader of Canada's New Democratic Party from 1989 to 1995. She was the first female leader of a political party with representation in the Canadian House of Commons, as well as the first federal political party leader to represent an electoral district in a Canadian Pr...
(NDP, 1987-1997), Erik Nielsen (Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

Progressive Conservative Party of Canada

The Progressive Conservative Party of Canada was a Canada political party with a centre-right stance on economic issues and a centrism stance on social issues....
, 1957-1987), James Aubrey Simmons

James Aubrey Simmons

James Aubrey Simmons was a Canada politician and Notary public.Born on July 8, 1897 in Revelstoke, Saskatchewan, Simmons would go on to sit many times in the Canadian House of Commons representing the Yukon....
(Liberal, 1949-1957).

Yukon has been represented by two Senators since the position was created in 1975. The Senate of Canada position is currently vacant (since December 2006). It was last filled by Ione Christensen

Ione Christensen

Ione Jean Christensen, Order of Canada is a former Canada Canadian Senate.Born in Dawson Creek, British Columbia, to former North-West Mounted Police constable Gordon Irwin Cameron, and Dawson City born Martha Ballentine Cameron, her family moved to Whitehorse, Yukon in 1949....
, representing the Liberal Party. Appointed to the Senate in 1999 by Prime Minister Jean Chrétien

Jean Chrétien

Joseph Jacques Jean Chr?tien, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Order of Canada, Queen's Counsel , is a Canadian politician who was the 20th Prime Minister of Canada from November 4, 1993 to December 12, 2003, and leader of the Liberal Party of Canada from 1990 to 2003....
, Mrs. Christensen resigned in December 2006 to help her ailing husband. From 1975 to 1999, Paul Lucier

Paul Lucier

Paul Lucier was a Canada businessman and Canadian Senate.Born in LaSalle, Ontario, the son of Adolph Lucier and Clare Laframboise, he was appointed by Pierre Trudeau the first Senator representing the senatorial division of Yukon in 1975....
(Liberal) served as Senator for the Yukon. Lucier was appointed by Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau

Pierre Trudeau

Joseph Philippe Pierre Yves Elliott Trudeau, Queen's Privy Council for Canada, Order of Canada, Order of the Companions of Honour, Queen's Counsel, Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada , was the 15th Prime Minister of Canada from April 20, 1968 to June 4, 1979, and from March 3, 1980 to June 30, 1984....
.

First Nations governments

Much of the population of the territory is First Nations

First Nations

First Nations is a term of ethnicity that refers to the Aboriginal peoples in Canada who are neither Inuit nor M?tis people....
. An umbrella land claim agreement

Yukon Land Claims

The Yukon Land Claims refer to the process of negotiating and settling aboriginal land claims agreements in the Yukon Territory in Canada....
representing 7,000 members of fourteen different First Nations was signed with the federal government in 1992. Each of the individual First Nations then has to negotiate a specific land claim and a self-government agreement. As of December 2005, eleven of the 14 First Nations had a signed agreement. The fourteen First Nation governments are:

Government	Seat	Chief
Carcross/Tagish First Nation Carcross/Tagish First Nation The Carcross/Tagish First Nation is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centres were Carcross, Yukon and Tagish, Yukon, although many of its citizens also live in Whitehorse, Yukon....	Carcross Carcross, Yukon Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, is an unincorporated community in the Territory of Yukon, Canada on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake....	Khà Shâde Héni Mark Wedge
Champagne and Aishihik First Nations Champagne and Aishihik First Nations The Champagne and Aishihik First Nations is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centres were Champagne, Yukon and Aishihik, Yukon, but most of its citizens moved to Haines Junction, Yukon to take advantage of services offered there such as schools....	Haines Junction Haines Junction, Yukon Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community....	Diane Strand
First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun The First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun is a First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is in Mayo, Yukon, but many of its members live across Canada and the United States....	Mayo	Simon Mervyn
Kluane First Nation Kluane First Nation The Kluane First Nation is a small First Nation in the Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Burwash Landing, Yukon on Kluane Lake along the Alaska Highway....	Burwash Landing Burwash Landing, Yukon Burwash Landing is a small community, at historical mile 1093 on the Alaska Highway, in the Yukon, Canada along the southern shore of Kluane Lake....	Robert Dickson
Kwanlin Dün First Nation Kwanlin Dün First Nation The Kwanlin D?n First Nation is located in and around Whitehorse, Yukon in the Yukon Territory of Canada. It is the largest First Nation in the Yukon....	Whitehorse Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....	Mike Smith
Liard River First Nation Liard River First Nation The Liard River First Nation, also known s the Liard First Nation is a First Nation in the southeastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centres are Upper Liard, Yukon and Watson Lake, Yukon along the Alaska Highway....	Watson Lake Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....	Liard McMillan
Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation The Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centre were Little Salmon, Yukon, but most of its citizens live in Carmacks, Yukon....	Carmacks Carmacks, Yukon Carmacks is a village in the Yukon on the Yukon River along the Klondike Highway, and at the west end of the Robert Campbell Highway from Watson Lake....	Eddie Skookum
Ross River Dena Council Ross River Dena Council The Ross River Dena Council is a First Nation in the eastern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main centre is in Ross River, Yukon at the junction of the Campbell Highway and the Canol Road, near the confluence of the Pelly River and the Ross River ....	Ross River Ross River, Yukon Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway....	Jack Caesar
Selkirk First Nation Selkirk First Nation The Selkirk First Nation is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada. Its original population centre was the trading post of Selkirk, Yukon along the Yukon River, but most of its citizens now live in Pelly Crossing, Yukon where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River....	Pelly Crossing Pelly Crossing, Yukon Pelly Crossing is a mainly First Nation unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River....	Darren Isaac
Ta'an Kwach'an Council Ta'an Kwach'an Council The Ta'an Kwach'an Council is a First Nation in Whitehorse, Yukon and Lake Laberge area in Canada's Yukon Territory. It split from the Kwanlin D?n First Nation to negotiate a separate land claim....	Whitehorse Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....	Ruth Massie
Teslin Tlingit Council Teslin Tlingit Council The Teslin Tlingit Council is a First Nation in the central Yukon Territory in Canada, located in Teslin, Yukon along the Alaska Highway and Teslin Lake....	Teslin Teslin, Yukon The community of Teslin includes the village of Teslin and an adjacent Indian reserve in the Yukon, Canada. Teslin is situated at historical mile 804 on the Alaska Highway along Teslin Lake....	Peter Johnston
Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation Tr’ondëk Hwëch’in First Nation The Tr?ond?k Hw?ch?in is a First Nations located in the central Yukon, Canada. Its main population centre is Dawson City, Yukon.Many of today?s Tr?ond?k Hw?ch?in, or people of the river, are descendants of the H?n language people who have lived along the Yukon River for thousands of years....	Dawson City Dawson City, Yukon The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the Canada 2006 Census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year....	Darren Taylor
Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation The Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation is a First Nation in the northern Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Old Crow, Yukon. As the name indicates, the language originally spoken by the people is Gwich'in language....	Old Crow Old Crow, Yukon Old Crow had 267 inhabitants in 2008, most of them belonging to the Gwich'in language-speaking Aboriginal peoples in Canada Vuntut Gwitchin First Nation....	Joe Linklater
White River First Nation White River First Nation The White River First Nation is a First Nation in the western Yukon Territory in Canada. Its main population centre is Beaver Creek, Yukon. The language originally spoken by the contemporary membership of the White River First Nation were the Athapaskan languages of Upper Tanana, whose traditional territory extends from the Donjek River into...	Beaver Creek Beaver Creek, Yukon Beaver Creek is a community in Yukon, Canada.Located at Kilometre 1,934 of the Alaska Highway, close to the Alaska-Yukon border, it is Canada's westernmost community....	David Johnny

The territory once had an Inuit

Inuit

Inuit is a general term for a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic regions of Canada, Greenland, Russia and Alaska, United States....
settlement, located on Herschel Island

Herschel Island

Herschel Island is an island in the Beaufort Sea , which lies 5 km off the coast of Yukon, Canada, of which it is administratively a part. It is Yukon's northernmost point....
off the Arctic

Arctic Ocean

The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic North Pole region, is the smallest and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions....
coast. This settlement was dismantled in 1987 and its inhabitants relocated to the neighboring Northwest Territories. As a result of the Inuvialuit

Inuvialuit

The Inuvialuit are Inuit person who live in the western Canadian Arctic region. They are descendants of the Thule people, other descendants who inhabit Russia....
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

Inuvialuktun

Inuvialuktun is a word routinely used to describe the varieties of the Inuit language spoken in the northern Northwest Territories by those Canada Inuit who call themselves Inuvialuit....
. There are also 14 First Nations that speak 8 different languages.

Communities

10 Largest Communities by population

Community	2001 Population	1996 Population
Whitehorse Whitehorse, Yukon Whitehorse is the Capital of the Yukon, Canada. Whitehorse accounts for more than 75% of the territory's population and is the largest city in the three Canadian territories....	19,058(city) 21,405(metro)	19,157(city) 21,808(metro)
Dawson Dawson City, Yukon The Town of the City of Dawson or Dawson City is a town in the Yukon, Canada.The population was 1,327 at the Canada 2006 Census. The area draws some 60,000 visitors each year....	1,251	1,287
Watson Lake Watson Lake, Yukon Watson Lake is a town at historical mile 635 on the Alaska Highway in the southeastern Yukon close to the British Columbia border. Population in December 2004 was 1,547 ....	912	993
Haines Junction Haines Junction, Yukon Haines Junction is a village in the Yukon, Canada. It is located at Kilometre 1,632 of the Alaska Highway at its junction with the Haines Highway, hence the name of the community....	531	574
Carmacks Carmacks, Yukon Carmacks is a village in the Yukon on the Yukon River along the Klondike Highway, and at the west end of the Robert Campbell Highway from Watson Lake....	431	466
Mount Lorne Mount Lorne, Yukon Mount Lorne is an unincorporated Hamlet in Canada's Yukon. Population in 2001 according to the Canada 2001 Census was 379. It is located just south of Whitehorse, Yukon, comprising rural residential areas along the South Klondike Highway, the Yukon roads, miscellaneous and connecting sideroads.... ¹	379	399
Mayo	366	324
Ross River Ross River, Yukon Ross River is an unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies at the juncture of the Ross River and the Pelly River, along the Canol Road, not far from the Campbell Highway....	337	352
Pelly Crossing Pelly Crossing, Yukon Pelly Crossing is a mainly First Nation unincorporated community in the Yukon, Canada. It lies where the Klondike Highway crosses the Pelly River....	328	238
Ibex Valley Ibex Valley, Yukon Ibex Valley is an incorporated hamlet in Canada's Yukon. Population in 2001 according to the Canada 2001 Census was 315.Ibex Valley comprises residential areas along the Alaska Highway immediately outside the Whitehorse, Yukon city limits as far as approximately historical mile 945, as well as a small number of sideroads, including a five-m... ¹	315	322

¹ Part of "Metro" Whitehorse Census Agglomeration

External links

Photographs (ca. 1898-1907) of scenes in the Yukon Territory, Canada, and portions of Alaska and British Columbia during the Klondike gold rush.
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.

Yukon

Geography

History

Demographics

Ethnicity

Language

Religion

Economy

Tourism

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Government and politics

Federal government representation

First Nations governments

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See also

External links