In 1999 Nunavut became the largest and newest territory in Canada. Formed from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories, this huge Canadian Arctic territory has only 25,000 residents, about 80 percent of whom are Inuit.
- north of Manitoba, and with the Northwest Territories and Arctic Ocean on the West and Hudson's Bay, Davis Strait and Baffin Bay on the east, Nunavut extends to the North Pole, and includes most of Canada's Arctic islands, including Ellesmere, Baffin, Devon, Prince of Wales, Southampton, and Coats islands.
- see map of Nunavut
2,093,190 sq. km (808,185 sq. miles) (Natural Resources Canada, 2001)
29,474 (Statistics Canada, 2006 Census)
Iqaluit, Nunavut
April 1, 1999
Nunavut has a consensus form of government within the Canadian parliamentary system. Members of the Nunavut Legislative Assembly are elected on an individual rather than a party basis. After a general election, the 19 elected members select a premier and cabinet ministers. The premier assigns portfolios to the cabinet ministers.
February 16, 2004
Mining, resource development, tourism

