Quick Facts

• Capital: Iqaluit
• Motto: None
• Flower: Arctic poppy
• Entered Confederation: April 1, 1999
• Members of the Legislative Assembly: 19
• Members of Parliament: 1
• Senators: 1
• Population, 1999: 27,219
• Average annual family income, 1996: $31,471
• Provincial sales tax, 1998: 0%
• GDP per capita, 1995: $28,385
• Land area out of Canada's total area 67,879: 20%

Government

On April 1, 1999, Nunavut was officially named Canada's third territory. As the newest partner in the federation Nunavut is the latest development in Canada's nation building.
The creation of Nunavut marked a profound shift in how Canada relates to Aboriginal people. Inuit, as the majority population of Nunavut, are shaping the territorial government in keeping with their culture, traditions and aspirations. All residents of the territory regardless of their origin elect the Government of Nunavut. All citizens have the right to vote and run for office. Jobs in the government of Nunavut's public service are open to all residents. Inuktitut is a working language of the government. Government services are also available in English and French.
Under the 1993 Nunavut Land Claims Agreement, Inuit received from the federal government a settlement of $1.1 billion to be paid in annual installments until 2007. Inuit also gained control of about 356,000 square kilometres of land (about 18 per cent of Nunavut), of which nearly 38,000 square kilometres include title to subsurface (mineral) rights. The Agreement also gave Inuit the right to self-government and self-determination. While Inuit represent 85% of the population in the Nunavut area, they have chosen to pursue their aspirations to self-determination through a public government structure rather than through Inuit-specific self-government arrangements. Nunavut is governed through a public government framework that represents all residents, Inuit and non-Inuit alike.
The Nunavut public government system includes an elected Legislative Assembly, consisting of a Speaker, Premier, a seven-member Cabinet and 10 Regular Members. The system also includes the Nunavut Public Service and a single-level trial court. While Nunavut has the same status and powers as the Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory, it also operates in a way unique from any other jurisdiction in Canada - incorporating Inuit values and beliefs into a contemporary system of government. Its working language is Inuktitut, but other languages used in government are Inuinnaqtun, English and French. Inuit culture is promoted through the Department of Culture, Language, Elders and Youth, which plays a key role in helping all departments, develop and implement policy reflective of Inuit values.

Capital City

Iqaluit (on Baffin Island) was chosen capital of Nunavut in 1995, winning over Rankin Inlet (on the west shore of Hudson Bay). Iqaluit is the largest community in Nunavut. It has a population of 4,500 (17% of the population) and is located approximately 2,000 Kilometers from Ottawa.

Climate

The mean temperature in January is -30°C and in July is 15°C. Iqaluit, the capital, experiences 24 hours of daylight per day in June, and six hours per day in December.

Time Zone

Nunavut is on Central Daylight Saving time. Nunavut time is the same as Ottawa time during the winter months (October to April) and in the summer months (April to October) Nunavut time is the same as Winnipeg time.

Geography

Nunavut, Canada's newest territory means "our land" in Inuktitut, the Inuit language. Nunavut is that vast expanse of northern Canada north of Manitoba and east of Hudson's Bay, including the Arctic and Non-arctic Islands to the East. It is made up of the central and eastern portions of the former Northwest Territories (NWT).
Nunavut is a vast territory - containing 2,000,000 sq km, one fifth of Canada's land base. Consisting of all of Canada north of 60 degrees N. and east of the NWT, which is not within Quebec or Newfoundland, and the Islands in Hudson's Bay, James Bay and Ungava Bay that are not within Manitoba, Ontario, or Quebec.
Nunavut is a land of rock, snow, ice, and sea It is a land of forest, plains, glacial rock and frozen seas. Nunavut can be divided into two broad geographical regions:

• Taiga, the boreal forest belt that circles the world in the subarctic zone.
• Tundra, the vast, rocky plain in the Arctic regions, where the extreme climate has stunted vegetation.

History

Nunavut has been occupied continuously for more than 4,000 years. Historians have identified the Baffin coast with Norse sagas, however recorded history began in 1576 when Martin Frobisher, on an expedition in search of the fabled Northwest Passage, discovered what he thought was gold on Baffin Island. The ore was worthless and Frobisher's encounters with the Inuit were not friendly. He seized four Inuit in 1576 and 1577 and took them to England where they quickly died. In 1585, John Davis, also in search of the Northwest Passage, explored Cumberland Sound. Henry Hudson followed in 1610.
The Arctic Islands were transferred from Britain to Canada in 1880. In 1903 an official expedition visited the High Arctic and Cumberland Sound exerting Canadian sovereignty. Between 1906 and 1911 the Canadian government dispatched three official voyages to the High Arctic, to show the flag and collect Customs duties from whalers.
The Second World War and the Cold War opened the Canadian Arctic. The United States Air Force built an airfield at Frobisher Bay, now Iqaluit, to handle aircraft transporting war materials to Europe. In 1955 construction began on the Distant Early Warning (DEW) Line, a joint project of Canada and the United States to create an early-warning radar chain to warn of any Soviet incursions.
Inuit leaders articulated the idea for the territory with its own government in the 1970s. Canada's newest territory - Nunavut - came into being on April 1st 1999.

People

Archeologists divide Nunavut's inhabitants into two distinct but physically related groups: the Paleoeskimo people from at least 4,000 to 700 years ago; and the Neoeskimo people who entered Nunavut some 1,000 years ago. Nunavut is home to the Inuit who originally inhabited this land, and of the qallunaat (outsiders) who arrived in their changing quests over the centuries, from the search for a sea route westward, for whales, furs and other natural resources, and finally, to stay.

Economy

Many of the Inuit still live off the land following their traditional economy; hunting, trapping, gathering and fishing. Increasingly carving and artistic pursuits are becoming staple economic activities throughout much of the north. The annual economic value of subsistence harvesting in Nunavut is estimated between $30 million and $50 million a year. Official estimates put the arts and crafts industry at more than $20 million per year, with more than 2,500 people deriving all or part of their income from this industry.
A limited wage economy exists in Nunavut, but there is a difference in the way residents participate; 60 per cent of Nunavut's adult Inuit population is in the labor force, although 28 per cent of that group is unemployed. Ninety-one per cent of Nunavut's small non-aboriginal population is in the labor force, with a four per cent unemployment rate.