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The
Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories (abbreviated ''NT'' or ''NWT''; french: Territoires du Nord-Ouest, formerly ''North-Western Territory'' and ''North-West Territories'' and namely shortened as ''Northwest Territory'') is a federal territory of Canada. ...
is the
most populous of Canada's
three territories with 41,070 residents as of
2021
File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...
and is the
second-largest territory in land area at .
The Northwest Territories' 24
municipalities
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
cover only of the territory's land mass but are home to of its population.
According to the ''Cities, Towns and Villages Act'' (''CTVA''), the ''Hamlets Act'' and the ''Charter Communities Act'' (''CCA''), all of which were enacted in 2003, a municipality is an area within a city, town, village, hamlet or charter community that was established or continued by a legislative order. The ''Tlicho Community Government Act'' (''TCGA''), enacted in 2004, also considers community governments as municipal corporations alongside charter communities, cities, hamlets, towns and villages.
Yellowknife
Yellowknife (; Dogrib: ) is the capital, largest community, and only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the ...
is the capital of the Northwest Territories and its only city, while Fort Simpson
Fort Simpson (Slavey language: ''Łı́ı́dlı̨ı̨ Kų́ę́'' "place where rivers come together") is a village, the only one in the entire territory, in the Dehcho Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is located on an ...
is its only village. Of the remaining 22 municipalities, three of them are charter communities, four are community governments of the Tlicho people, eleven are hamlets and four are towns.[ The ''CTVA'', the ''Hamlets Act'', the ''CCA'' and the ''TCGA'' stipulate governance of these municipalities.][
Half of the population of the Northwest Territories () resides in Yellowknife, the largest municipality in the territory at 20,340 residents.][ The least populous municipality is ]Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
with 75 residents.[ The largest municipality by area is ]Fort Resolution
Fort Resolution (''Denı́nu Kų́ę́'' (pronounced "deh-nih-noo-kwenh") "moose island place") is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shores ...
at , while the smallest is Gamèti at .[
]
Cities
An application can be submitted to incorporate a community as a city under the ''Cities, Town and Villages Act'' at the request of a minimum 25 residents that are eligible electors, or at the initiative of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, if the proposed city has a minimum assessed land value of $200 million or if an exception is made by the Minister.[ The only city in the Northwest Territories is Yellowknife.][ It had a population of 20,340 residents and a land area of in the 2021 Census.][
]
Towns
Like cities, an application to incorporate as a town can be submitted under the ''Cities, Town and Villages Act'' at the request of a minimum 25 residents that are eligible electors, or at the initiative of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.[ In the case of a town however, the proposed town's minimum assessed land value must be $50 million unless an exception is made by the Minister.][ The Northwest Territories has four communities incorporated as towns.][ Hay River is the territory's largest town by population and land area with 3,169 residents and respectively.][ ]Norman Wells
Norman Wells (Slavey language: ''Tłegǫ́hłı̨'' "where there is oil") is a town located in the Sahtu Region, Northwest Territories, Canada, settled about 140 km (87 mi) south of the Arctic Circle. The town, which hosts the Sahtu Regional o ...
is the smallest town by population at 673 residents while Inuvik is the smallest by land area at .[
]
Villages
The ''Cities, Town and Villages Act'' enables an application to incorporate as a village at the request of a minimum 25 residents that are eligible electors, or at the initiative of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.[ The proposed village's minimum assessed land value must be $10 million unless an exception is made by the Minister.][ The only village in the Northwest Territories is Fort Simpson.][ It had a population of 1,100 residents and a land area of .][
]
Hamlets
At the request of a minimum 25 residents that are eligible electors, or at the initiative of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs, an application can be submitted to incorporate a community as a hamlet under the ''Hamlets Act''.[ Unlike cities, towns and villages, the incorporation of hamlets are not conditioned by a prescribed minimum assessed land value. Of the 11 hamlets in the Northwest Territories, ]Tuktoyaktuk
Tuktoyaktuk , or ''Tuktuyaaqtuuq'' (Inuvialuktun: ''it looks like a caribou''), is an Inuvialuit hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, at the northern terminus of the Inuvik–Tuktoyaktuk Highway.Montgomer ...
is the largest by population with 937 residents yet and Fort Resolution
Fort Resolution (''Denı́nu Kų́ę́'' (pronounced "deh-nih-noo-kwenh") "moose island place") is a hamlet in the South Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. The community is situated at the mouth of the Slave River, on the shores ...
is the largest by land area at .[ ]Enterprise
Enterprise (or the archaic spelling Enterprize) may refer to:
Business and economics
Brands and enterprises
* Enterprise GP Holdings, an energy holding company
* Enterprise plc, a UK civil engineering and maintenance company
* Enterpris ...
is the smallest hamlet by population at 75 residents while the smallest by land area is Aklavik
Aklavik (Inuvialuktun: ''Akłarvik'') (from the Inuvialuktun meaning '' barrenground grizzly place'') is a hamlet located in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Until 1961, with a population over 1,500, the community serve ...
at .[
]
Charter communities
An application to incorporate as a community charter can be submitted under the ''Charter Communities Act'' at the request of a minimum 25 residents that are eligible electors, or at the initiative of the Minister of Municipal and Community Affairs.[ After consultation with community residents and groups, the application can be approved if 60% of the eligible electors vote to approve the incorporation.][ The Northwest Territories has three charter communities.][ ]Délı̨nę
The Charter Community of Délı̨nę (North Slavey: ) is located in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada, on the western shore of Great Bear Lake and is northwest of Yellowknife. Délı̨nę means "where the waters flow", a ref ...
is the territory's largest charter community by population with 573 residents and largest by land area at .[ ]Tsiigehtchic
Tsiigehtchic ( ; "mouth of the iron river"), officially the ''Charter Community of Tsiigehtchic'', is a Gwich'in community located at the confluence of the Mackenzie and the Arctic Red Rivers, in the Inuvik Region of the Northwest Territories, ...
is the smallest charter community by population at 138 residents while Fort Good Hope
Fort Good Hope (formerly ''Fort Hope'', ''Fort Charles'', also now known as the ''Charter Community of K'asho Got'ine''), is a charter community in the Sahtu Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is located on a peninsula between Jackf ...
is the smallest by land area at .[
]
Tlicho community governments
Four community governments were established through the enactment of the ''Tlicho Community Government Act''.[ ]Behchokǫ̀
Behchokǫ̀ ( ɛ́ht͡ʃʰókʰõ̀or ɛ́ht͡sʰókʰõ̀ ) (from the Tłı̨chǫ meaning "Behcho's place"), officially the ''Tłı̨chǫ Community Government of Behchokǫ̀,'' is a community in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territo ...
is the territory's largest community government by population and land area at 1,746 residents and respectively.[ Wekweeti is the smallest community government by population at 109 residents while Gamèti is the smallest by land area at .][ The fourth community is ]Whatì
Whatì (; from the Dogrib language meaning "Marten Lakes"), officially the ''Tłı̨chǫ Community Government of Whatì'' is a First Nations community in the North Slave Region of the Northwest Territories, Canada. Whatì is located by Lac La ...
, the second largest by area () and population (543).[
]
List of municipalities
See also
*List of communities in the Northwest Territories
The Northwest Territories of Canada contains 33 official communities.
Communities
The following are communities recognised by the Government of the Northwest Territories. All of them are also recognized as census subdivisions by Statistics Can ...
*List of population centres in the Northwest Territories
A population centre, in Canadian census data, is a populated place, or a cluster of interrelated populated places, which meets the demographic characteristics of an urban area, having a population of at least 1,000 people and a population density ...
Notes
References
External links
Northwest Territories Municipal and Community Affairs
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