The vastness of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Northwest Territories The Northwest Territories is a federal Provinces and territories of Canada, territory of Canada. At a land area of approximately and a 2021 census population of 41,070, it is the second-largest and the most populous of Provinces and territorie ...

meant that for much of its history it was divided into several districts for ease of administration. The number and size of these territorial districts varied as other

provinces and territories of Canada Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

were created and expanded. The districts of the Northwest Territories were abolished in 1999 with the creation of the

Nunavut Nunavut is the largest and northernmost Provinces and territories of Canada#Territories, territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the ''Nunavut Act'' and the Nunavut Land Claims Agr ...

territory and the contraction of the Northwest Territories to its current size.

North-West Territories before districts

The North-West Territories were administered as a single entity, with no districts, from 1870 to 1882. In 1870, Canada gained control of

Rupert's Land Rupert's Land (), or Prince Rupert's Land (), was a territory in British North America which comprised the Hudson Bay drainage basin. The right to "sole trade and commerce" over Rupert's Land was granted to Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), based a ...

and the North-Western Territory from the

Hudson's Bay Company The Hudson's Bay Company (HBC), originally the Governor and Company of Adventurers of England Trading Into Hudson’s Bay, is a Canadian holding company of department stores, and the oldest corporation in North America. It was the owner of the ...

. That same year, a small piece of Rupert's Land was formed into the province of

Manitoba Manitoba is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population ...

, but the rest of the area was merged and renamed the North-West Territories. This region included the vast bulk of Canada's present day landmass and covered an area about the size of

western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

. In 1876, the North-West Territories contracted in size when a large area of , between Manitoba and

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

and along the entire west coast of

Hudson Bay Hudson Bay, sometimes called Hudson's Bay (usually historically), is a large body of Saline water, saltwater in northeastern Canada with a surface area of . It is located north of Ontario, west of Quebec, northeast of Manitoba, and southeast o ...

, was established by Canada as a territory named the District of Keewatin. This autonomous territory is not to be confused with the districts which would later be created ''within'' the North-West Territories. In 1880, the Canadian Arctic Archipelago was ceded to Canada by the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

and this land was added to the North-West Territories.

Timeline

1882

As the southern part of the North-West Territories became populated, four districts were created in 1882 for ease of administration; unlike Keewatin, these areas remained a part of the North-West Territories, and thus were formally called ''provisional districts'': *The District of Alberta was where the southwestern part of the province of Alberta is today, east of

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, west of the line between ranges 10 and 11 of the

Dominion Land Survey The Dominion Land Survey (DLS; ) is the method used to divide most of Western Canada into one-square-mile (2.6 km2) sections for agricultural and other purposes. It is based on the layout of the Public Land Survey System used in the United St ...

(about 112° west) and north of the Canada–US border. *The District of Athabasca covered the northern half of what is today Alberta. *The

District of Assiniboia Assiniboia District refers to two historical Districts of the Northwest Territories, districts of Canada's Northwest Territories. The name is taken from the Assiniboine people, Assiniboine First Nation. Historical usage ''For more information on ...

was where the southernmost quarter of Saskatchewan is today (south of the Ninth Correction Line, about 51.97° north), but also stretched further west into what is today Alberta. *The

District of Saskatchewan The District of Saskatchewan was a regional administrative district of Canada's North-West Territories. Formed in 1882, it was later enlarged then abolished with the creation of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta in 1905. Much of the are ...

was to the north of Assiniboia extending halfway up modern Saskatchewan (18th Correction Line, about 55.11° north). It stretched further east than Assiniboia, running all the way to the shore of

Lake Winnipeg Lake Winnipeg () is a very large, relatively shallow lake in North America, in the Canadian province of Manitoba. Its southern end is about north of the city of Winnipeg. Lake Winnipeg is Canada's sixth-largest freshwater lake and the third- ...

and the

Nelson River The Nelson River is a river of north-central North America, in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Manitoba. The river drains Lake Winnipeg and runs before it ends in Hudson Bay near Port Nelson, Manitoba, Port Nels ...

. It also stretched west into what is now Alberta.

1886

The southwestern border of the autonomous District of Keewatin was adjusted to conform to the boundaries of the District of Saskatchewan.

1895

In 1895, the northern portion of the North-West Territories was divided into four more internal districts for ease of administration: *The District of Franklin was made up of the Arctic islands. *The District of Ungava was made up of what is today northern Quebec, parts of Labrador, and offshore islands (in Hudson, James and Ungava Bays) that are today part of Nunavut. *The District of Yukon was made up of what is today the Yukon. *The District of Mackenzie was the rest, stretching from the Yukon border in the west to the Keewatin border in the east, and containing none of the islands. *The District of Athabasca expanded and covered the northern half of what is today both Alberta and Saskatchewan. *The portion of the North-West Territories north of Ontario was ceded to the autonomous District of Keewatin.

1897

Southampton Island,

Coats Island Coats Island ( Inuktitut: ᐊᑉᐸᑑᕐᔪᐊᖅ, Appatuurjuaq) lies at the northern end of Hudson Bay in the Kivalliq Region of Nunavut. At in size, it is the 107th largest island in the world, and Canada's 24th largest island. The islan ...

, Akimiski Island, and other islands were ceded to the autonomous District of Keewatin, whereas

Boothia Peninsula Boothia Peninsula (; formerly ''Boothia Felix'', Inuktitut ''Kingngailap Nunanga'') is a large peninsula in Nunavut's northern Canadian Arctic, south of Somerset Island. The northern part, Murchison Promontory, is the northernmost point of ...

and Melville Peninsula, which were previously part of the autonomous District of Keewatin, were added to the District of Franklin.

1898

The North-West Territories shrunk in 1898 when the Klondike Gold Rush necessitated the conversion of the District of Yukon into the autonomous Yukon Territory. Also, the southernmost part of Ungava was ceded to Quebec.

1901

The eastern border of Yukon Territory was slightly adjusted, thus exchanging some area with the North-West Territories.

1905–1906

The North-West Territories experienced significant adjustments between 1905 and 1906: *The Districts of Alberta, Assiniboia, Athabasca, and Saskatchewan were reorganized to form the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan (1905). *The autonomous District of Keewatin, portions of which had been converted into the expansion of Manitoba and Ontario, gave up its autonomy and became a district within the North-West Territories (1905). *The easternmost portions of the (now) defunct Districts of Saskatchewan and Athabaska were added to the District of Keewatin (1905). *The Northwest Territories now consisted of the Districts of Franklin, Ungava, Mackenzie and Keewatin. *The hyphen was removed from North-West Territories, so that the area was now named the Northwest Territories (1906).

1912

The Northwest Territories experienced further attrition in 1912: *The entire continental portion of the District of Ungava was converted into the northern expansion of the province of Quebec. Only the district's more than 1500 almost entirely uninhabited offshore islands remained part of the Northwest Territories; they were made a part of the Franklin District in 1920. *Most of the District of Keewatin (i.e., everything south of 60 degrees north) was converted into the northern expansion of the provinces of Ontario and Manitoba. In 1920, the easternmost portion of the District of Mackenzie was added to the District of Keewatin. The Northwest Territories now consisted of the Districts of Franklin, Mackenzie and Keewatin. Ungava remained a district until 1920, but with no population to administer, this district designation was effectively unused after 1912. The three remaining districts continued to be used for a number of decades, but as control over the territory was moved from departments of the federal government to a centralized government in

Yellowknife Yellowknife is the capital, largest community, and the only city in the Northwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of t ...

starting in 1967, they began to have far less use. Although the Districts of Franklin, Mackenzie and Keewatin continued to appear on many maps (and continued to exist), by the 1980s the practical governance of the Northwest Territories was divided into four administrative regions:

Inuvik Inuvik (''place of man'') is the only town in the Inuvik Region, and the List of municipalities in the Northwest Territories, third largest community in Canada's Northwest Territories. Located in what is sometimes called the Beaufort Delta Re ...

, Fort Smith, Keewatin and Baffin. A fifth region, the Central Arctic Region, subsequently called the Kitikmeot, was later carved out of the Fort Smith Region.

1999

In 1999, the Northwest Territories was reduced to its current size, and the notion of the districts was abolished, with the creation of the territory of Nunavut. The former District of Keewatin, most of the Arctic Islands of the District of Franklin, and a northeast portion of the District of Mackenzie now form

, with the remainder of Franklin and the majority of Mackenzie forming the current version of the Northwest Territories.

Notes

References

External links

A map of the districts of the Northwest TerritoriesNWT Historical Timeline
{{DEFAULTSORT:Districts Of The Northwest Territories 1882 in Canada Former subdivisions of Canada