The Yukon is a territory of Canada located in the northwestern part of the country. The Yukon is a largely untouched wilderness with a very small population. The capital is Whitehorse.

Geography

The Yukon Territory touches Alaska (a U.S. state) on the west, British Columbia (a Canadian province) on the south, and the Northwest Territories (a Canadian territory) on the east. The Beaufort Sea (a part of the Arctic Ocean) lies to the north. The Yukon is the ninth largest of Canada's 13 provinces and territories.

In the Yukon, mountains surround a central plateau, or high, flat area. Mount Logan rises in the southwest. It is the highest point in Canada. The Yukon River flows northwest through the territory. The Yukon's climate is cool and dry. The land in the far north is tundra, a cold area with no trees.

People

About one fifth of the people of the Yukon Territory are Native Americans. Most belong to groups in the Athapaskan language family. The rest of the people have European ancestors or mixed Native American and European roots. Most people speak English. Smaller groups speak French or various Native American languages.

Two thirds of the population lives in the Yukon's capital and largest city, Whitehorse. Dawson and Watson Lake are the next-largest towns. Other communities in the Yukon have populations of several hundred or less.

Economy

Mining is the most important industry in the Yukon Territory. The Yukon has one of the world's largest deposits of tungsten, a valuable metal. There are also deposits of lead, zinc, silver, and gold.

Tourism is important to the territory's economy, too. Most visitors come to see the Yukon's wilderness. Many people hike, raft, or fish in Kluane National Park and other areas.

Fishing and the fur trade are other important activities. Fishers catch salmon, lake trout, whitefish, and other fishes. Trappers catch lynx, marten, wolverines, foxes, muskrat, and beavers for their furs. Agriculture is only a small part of the economy.

History

The first people in the Yukon probably came from Asia between 60,000 and 10,000 years ago. Over time, these people's descendants developed the several Native American cultures of the Yukon.

Explorers for the Hudson's Bay Company entered the region in about 1840. Great Britain had given this company the right to control trade in what is now western Canada. In 1870 the Hudson's Bay Company sold this land to the new country of Canada. What is now the Yukon then became a part of Canada's Northwest Territories.

In 1896 people discovered gold near the Klondike River, which feeds into the Yukon River. Thousands of people came to the Yukon in the hope of getting rich. They built Dawson, which became the largest city in western Canada. However, the Klondike gold rush lasted only a few years.

Canada made the Yukon into a separate territory in 1898. The capital moved from Dawson to Whitehorse in 1953.