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A northern Canadian territory. It has a land mass of 1 171 918 square kilometers and a population of over 42 000.
Its capital has been Yellowknife since 1967.
Other communities in the Northwest Territories are Aklavik, Bathurst Inlet, Colville Lake, Deline, Enterprise, Fort Good Hope, Fort Liard, Fort McPherson, Fort Providence, Fort Resolution, Fort Simpson, Fort Smith, Hay River, Holman, Inuvik, Jean Marie River, Lutselk'e, Nahanni Butte, Norman Wells, Paulatuk, Rae-Edzo, Rae Lakes, Resolute, Sachs Harbour, Snare Lake, Trout Lake, Tuktoyaktuk, Tulita, Wha Ti, and Wrigley.
Unlike provincial governments, the Government of the Northwest Territories does not have political parties. It is a consensus government called the Legislative Assembly. This group is comprised of a democratically elected member from each of the nineteen constituancies.
On April 1 1999, the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories became a separate territory called Nunavut. This reshaping of the territory is nothing new, as in the past it has included all of what is now known as Alberta, Saskatchewan, and the Yukon and most of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.
See also: Canada, Canadian provinces and territories, Canadian cities, Nunavut