NUNAVUT

Nunavut is located in the eastern Canadian Arctic and is Canada's largest and newest territory, making up nearly 20 percent of the country. This territory was created on April 1, 1999, when the Northwest Territories was split into a western part, still known as the Northwest Territories, and an eastern part, known as the Territory of Nunavut.

Nunavut is the native homeland of the Inuit, who make up nearly 85 percent of the total population. The word Nunavut means "our land" in Inuktitut, the language of the Inuit. The Inuit have high expectations that the new Nunavut government will encourage Inuit cultural development, including making Inuktitut a working language among public employees, and stimulate economic development.

Nunavut was created as part of a long process that originated with the Canadian government's decision in the early 1970s to negotiate settlements with aboriginal groups that file land claims. The Inuit filed such a claim in 1976, and this led to an agreement between the federal government and the Inuit in 1993 called the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act.

One aspect of the agreement committed the federal government to establish a new territory called Nunavut that would be a homeland for the Inuit. In 1993 the federal government passed the Nunavut Act, which lay the groundwork for a new territory. This same act also established the Nunavut Implementation Commission and assigned that commission the mandate to advise the federal government on matters pertaining to the creation of a new territory.

Although Nunavut extends over a vast area, more than 2 million square kilometres, its population is quite small. Nunavut's population in 1996 was just under 25,000 and its capital and largest community is Iqaluit.. This combination of large geographic size and small population makes the territory the most sparsely populated area in Canada and one of the most sparsely populated areas in the world. Nunavut's geography greatly limits its possibilities for economic growth.

Historically, the territory now known as Nunavut became part of Canada during the late 19th century. Before that time the land in northern Canada had been owned by Britain and controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1870 part of the land known as Rupert's Land was sold to Canada; the islands within the Arctic Ocean, collectively known as the Arctic Archipelago, were transferred to Canada by Britain in 1880. Most of the Arctic Archipelago now falls within the jurisdiction of Nunavut; the remainder is part of the Northwest Territories.