Northwest Territories & Nunavut

Road map Northwest Territories & Nunavut

The northernmost portion of Canada is enormous in area but very lightly populated. The westernmost portion is Yukon, which is on a different map. The middle portion is the Northwest Territories, with its capital at Yellowknife. This vast territory covers from the 60th parallel to the Arctic Ocean but is mostly inaccessible except by air. A new gravel road has been extended from Inuvik to a small town on the Arctic Ocean known as Tuk (because its full name of Tuktoyaktuk is a bit of a mouthful). One can only reach this road via the Yukon and the Dempster Highway. The normal road access to the main part of NWT is from Alberta, with a paved highway to Yellowknife. An inset of the city is included. The second side of the map presents Nunavut, Canada's newest political entity, which is celebrating its 25th year of existence this year. Nunavut has no roads except in the few small towns that exist. Its capital is Iqaluit (which means Place of Fish), at the head of Frobisher Bay on Baffin Island. This territory covers an expanse much larger than all of Europe, but has only about 30,000 people. Needless to say, the territory struggles to perform essential services. We have added a red-dashed line to show the route of the Northwest Passage, a largely ice-filled channel that is quickly becoming navigable due to global warming. This is a fascinating, off the beaten path type of place, so add it to your bucket list!