Nunavut is a

territory A territory is an area of land, sea, or space, particularly belonging or connected to a country, person, or animal. In international politics, a territory is usually either the total area from which a state may extract power resources or a ...

of Canada. It has a land area of . In the 2016 census the population was 35,944, up 12.7% from the 2011 census figure of 31,906. In 2016, 30,135 people identified themselves as

Inuit Inuit (; iu, ᐃᓄᐃᑦ 'the people', singular: Inuk, , dual: Inuuk, ) are a group of culturally similar indigenous peoples inhabiting the Arctic and subarctic regions of Greenland, Labrador, Quebec, Nunavut, the Northwest Territories ...

(83.8% of the total population), 190 as

North American Indian The Indigenous peoples of the Americas are the inhabitants of the Americas before the arrival of the European settlers in the 15th century, and the ethnic groups who now identify themselves with those peoples. Many Indigenous peoples of the Am ...

(0.5%), 165 Métis (0.5%) and 5,025 as non-aboriginal (14.0%). Nunavut's small and sparse population makes it unlikely the territory will be granted provincial status in the foreseeable future, although this may change if the

Yukon Yukon (; ; formerly called Yukon Territory and also referred to as the Yukon) is the smallest and westernmost of Canada's three territories. It also is the second-least populated province or territory in Canada, with a population of 43,964 as ...

, which is marginally less populous, becomes a province.

Age structure

The median age in Nunavut is 25.1 years, according to the 2016 census. This is significantly younger than the median age of Canada (41.2 years). Those aged 65 years and over account for 3.8% of the population.

Population history

Population geography

Communities with more than 1,000 people

Visible minorities and Aboriginals

Language

The 2016 Canadian census showed a population of 35,944. In terms of ' mother tongue', 34,960 people were reported as learned a single language first. The languages most commonly reported were: There were also 735 responses of both English and a 'non-official language' (mainly Inuktitut); 10 of both French and a 'non-official language; 25 of both English and French; and about 140 people who either did not respond to the question, or reported multiple non-official languages, or else gave some other unenumerated response. Only English and French were counted as official languages in the census. Figures shown are for the number of single language responses and the percentage of total single-language responses.

Religion

The dominant religion in Nunavut is

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

;

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

, Anglicanism and

Pentecostalism Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

are highly prevalent. Traditionally, Inuit shamanism has always been a

taboo A taboo or tabu is a social group's ban, prohibition, or avoidance of something (usually an utterance or behavior) based on the group's sense that it is excessively repulsive, sacred, or allowed only for certain persons.''Encyclopædia Britannica ...

subject in Inuit culture, not openly talked about. Shamans didn't make it known they were one, but the group or clan they were a part of knew.

Migration

Immigration

The 2016 census counted a total of only about 920 immigrants in Nunavut, including about 185 from the Philippines, 80 from the United Kingdom, 60 from the United States, 35 from Zimbabwe and 30 each from India, Nigeria and Pakistan. A total of 4,940 people moved to Nunavut from other parts of Canada between 1996 and 2006 while 5,615 people moved in the opposite direction. These movements resulted in a net influx of 355 from Newfoundland and Labrador; and a net outmigration of 355 to Alberta, 295 to the Northwest Territories, 235 to Ontario and 160 to Quebec. There was a net outmigration of 150 francophones from Nunavut to Quebec during this period. (All net inter-provincial and official minority movements of more than 100 persons are given).

Internal migration

While there is some

internal migration Internal migration or domestic migration is human migration within a country. Internal migration tends to be travel for education and for economic improvement or because of a natural disaster or civil disturbance, though a study based on the full ...

from the rest of Canada to Nunavut (usually on a temporary basis), there is very little external migration from outside of Canada to Nunavut.

Notes

*Iqaluit is both the capital of Nunavut and the regional centre for the Qikiqtaaluk Region, while Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay are the regional centres for the

Kivalliq The Kivalliq Region (; Inuktitut syllabics: ᑭᕙᓪᓕᖅ ) is an administrative region of Nunavut, Canada. It consists of the portion of the mainland to the west of Hudson Bay together with Southampton Island and Coats Island. The regional ...

and Kitikmeot Regions respectively. *Official language of Nunavut

References

{{Canada topic, Demographics of Nunavut Nunavut society