One of three northern Canadian territories, the Yukon is situated in the northwest corner of Canada's continental mainland. It is situated directly north of the Canadian province of British Columbia, to the east of Alaska and west of the Northwest Territories. Its northern border touches the Arctic Ocean. Getting to the Yukon is easy with direct flights from several Canadian cities and seasonal service from Frankfurt, Germany.
Once here, exploring the Yukon is a breeze with guided tours, regional air services and RV and car rentals available from Whitehorse. There are many job opportunities, particularly in mining, and the job market is relatively secure, due to the fact that the industry is run by the government.
Thanks to most of Yukon still being unspoiled wilderness, tourism plays an important part in the economy. German and Athabaskan languages can be heard in the smaller towns, adding to the vibrant diversity of the province. Overwhelmingly, over 10 people are known to have no religious affiliation at all, while the Catholic and Protestant faith is most popular in the Yukon.
The above map can be downloaded, printed, and used for geography education purposes like map-pointing and coloring activities. The above outline map represents Yukon, a territory located in the extreme northwestern corner of Canada.
This page was last updated on May 11, Home North America Canada Yukon. Provinces Map Where is Yukon? Outline Map Key Facts. See also: Yukon Flag Yukon Symbols. Salt Spring Island. Forestry is of limited importance, but the Yukon government has recently begun to promote the sector in order to diversify the economy. While a large portion of the territory is located below the tree line, only 81, km 2 can support timber harvesting activities. For comparison, in , British Columbia harvested over , hectares of forest , while the Yukon harvested In the Yukon, the forest industry is dominated by small operators who extract timber for building materials, log homes and fuel wood.
Yukon is home to four species of whitefish , five species of salmon and nine different game fish. Commercial fisheries harvest salmon, lake trout and whitefish for local consumption. Subsistence fishing remains important for many Aboriginal communities. Their annual migration is a popular tourist attraction. The manufacturing sector is steadily contributing more to the territorial economy. Yukon-made goods include furniture, vinyl windows, trusses, printed materials, chocolates, clothing, handicrafts and gold nugget jewellery.
Commercial production of the territory's renewable resources, in forestry, agriculture, fishing, trapping and sport hunting, has increased substantially in recent years. Subsistence fishing and hunting, carried out primarily by Yukon's Aboriginal peoples, represent a vital economic activity, especially in the smaller, rural communities. Tourism is the mainstay of the Yukon economy and the largest private sector employer. It is largely a seasonal industry. Along with government, it sustained the Yukon economy during recent slumps in mining.
Visitors are drawn by the Yukon's colourful gold rush history, Aboriginal heritage, and scenic and wildlife attractions. Centennial celebrations commemorating the Klondike, as well as improved transportation infrastructure, greatly increased the number of visitors to the territory.
Whitehorse puts on an annual winter festival called the "Sourdough Rendezvous," which celebrates its 50th anniversary in The territory also hosts the Arctic Winter Games every six years. The remoteness of Yukon along with its variety of big game is a major draw for hunters. Non-resident hunters are required to employ the services of registered hunting guides.
Other tourist services and campground facilities are available along the Yukon highways. National parks include Kluane , Vuntut and Ivvavik. During the summer solstice, there is almost constant daylight in Yukon.
The Yukon, along with Nunavut and the Northwest Territories , is the best place to view these dazzling lights because of its proximity to a magnetic pole and due to the lack of light pollution. Transportation in the Yukon was based upon the Yukon River system until the construction of the Alaska Highway during the Second World War the highway opened in Shallow-draught, stern-wheeler steamboats operated seasonally from gold rush days; the main route was between Dawson and Whitehorse where rapids made the latter the effective head of river navigation.
Limited transportation by sleigh or coach was available on winter roads during the closed season. The White Pass and Yukon Route Railway was constructed from tidewater at Skagway, AK, through the rugged Coast Mountains to Whitehorse , and was particularly important in exporting minerals from the territory until it was shut down in The transportation pattern and local population distribution were radically altered during the Second World War.
Originally conceived as part of the government's "roads to resources" program, the Dempster Highway has helped reduce prices in the Mackenzie Delta area and has encouraged tourism. Airports and airstrips are now available at most Yukon settlements, including Old Crow in the north. The Whitehorse airport was built in and provides daily scheduled and charter links with Alaska, southern Canada via Vancouver and Edmonton and the "lower 48" American states.
Pipelines to transport Arctic Alaskan gas overland to the US inevitably would have to cross the Yukon. The Alaska Highway pipeline proposed in the late s was shelved because of political pressures in the US, the recognition of Aboriginal land claims, the environmental impacts of the project and the financial costs see Mackenzie Valley Pipeline. The Yukon moved toward territorial government earlier than the Northwest Territories.
The Yukon Territory Act created the region as a separate geographic and political entity that belonged to the Canadian federation. This legislation created a territorial government governed by a federally appointed commissioner, under who was then the Ministry of the Interior, as well as an appointed council of no more than six members. James Morrow Walsh was the first commissioner in and was succeeded a year later by land surveyor William Ogilvie.
In , a fully elected council of 10 members was established. Dwindling population resulted in the council and office of the commissioner being abolished in In the face of local protest it was reinstated in , but only as a three-member elected council with reduced powers.
Further changes did not occur until after the Second World War when the territory's population increased. In , legal provision was made for the reappointment of a commissioner as chief executive officer of the Yukon, along with the installation of several other appointed territorial officers. In , the council was increased to five elected members, and subsequent additions have expanded it to From to the federally appointed commissioner chaired an executive committee consisting first of appointed officials and representatives of the legislative assembly former council and in its later stages of the deputy commissioner and five elected members from the legislative assembly.
In , an executive council of five elected members functioning as a cabinet superseded the former executive committee. It now reports to the government leader instead of the commissioner.
Party politics were introduced to the Yukon assembly for the first time in along with responsibility for managing elections. From to , the commissioner had the authority of the head of the government as well as the head of state. In other words, the commissioner served as both premier and lieutenant-governor of Yukon. With the exception of a brief Liberal government between and , power has been traded between the conservative Yukon Party and the NDP.
The Yukon Party, however, has been dominant, forming the government from to Sandy Silver, previously the only Liberal member of the Legislative Assembly, was elected premier, while Yukon Party leader Darrell Pasloski lost his seat to a Liberal candidate and subsequently announced his resignation as party leader.
There are two major political issues for the Yukon: Aboriginal land claims and provincial status. The First Nations peoples of Yukon have never signed treaties with the federal government. Their Council for Yukon Indians now the Council of Yukon First Nations has pressed the case since the s for a land claims settlement that would include federal government financial assistance.
In , an Umbrella Final Agreement between the federal and territorial governments, and the Council established the terms for finalizing land claims settlements. The Umbrella Final Agreement also included self-government agreements which give First Nations groups more control over land use and greater authority in areas such as language, health care, social services and education. Each First Nations government has responsibilities related to: law making, land-use planning, fish and wildlife, forestry, water, non-renewable and heritage resources.
Provincial status was an issue during the Meech Lake and Charlottetown constitutional negotiations. When the territories were created, they did not have the same powers as provinces. In the s, the Yukon became responsible for education, social services, tax collection, most highways and community services.
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