|
Capital City: Whitehorse
Located in the northwest corner of Canada and bordering on Alaska, the Yukon Territory is large in area (483,450 km²), yet only 28,000 people call it home. Its capital, Whitehorse, is home to 60 per cent of this population. The territory's other major centre, Dawson City, was one of largest Canadian cities west of Winnipeg in the late 1800s. It was an important city during the famous Gold Rush days, and is now a historic site in the Yukon. The Yukon got its name from a Hudson's Bay trader, who called it "Yu-kun-ah", or "greatest river", referring to the river that runs through the Territory.
The Yukon Territory has an abundance of unique wildlife, from the great polar bear to the caribou. Like Nunavut and the Northwest Territories, the Yukon is also the "land of the midnight sun" during the summer months. This means that there is almost-constant daylight for almost two months - the sun is visible at midnight during the summer. In winter, however, there is complete darkness for two straight months.
|