Northwest Territories (abbreviated as NT or NWT), region of northern and northwestern Canada, borders Nunavut to the east, the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia to the south, and Yukon to the west. According to statcan, Northwest Territories population in 2024 is estimated to be 44,893, ranks eleventh populous, Its area is 1,346,106 sq.km (519,734 sq mi), third in area rank. The creation in 1999 of the territory of Nunavut out of the eastern portion of the Northwest Territories reduced the area of the latter by more than half. Yukon was ceded from the Northwest Territories in 1898. Alberta and Saskatchewan were created from parts of the Northwest Territories in 1905. Yellowknife is the capital, most populous community, and only city in the territory, with population 19,569 as of the 2016 census, and other cities are Fort Simpson, Inuvik and Sachs Harbour.
According to 2016 census the population of Northwest territories is 41,786, around 324 people increased from 2011 census of 41,462 with the percentage change of 0.8. Average age of the population is 34.9 years and Median age of the population is 34 years. The age group from 0 to 14 years is 8,875, 15 to 64 years is 29,690, 65 years and over is 3,220 and 85 years and over is 225.
Age Group
Total
Male
Female
0 to 4 years
3,120
1,605
1,515
5 to 9 years
3,015
1,520
1,495
10 to 14 years
2,740
1,350
1,385
15 to 19 years
2,715
1,405
1,310
20 to 24 years
3,065
1,635
1,430
25 to 29 years
3,465
1,755
1,710
30 to 34 years
3,385
1,670
1,720
35 to 39 years
3,215
1,565
1,650
40 to 44 years
2,825
1,365
1,460
45 to 49 years
2,880
1,485
1,400
50 to 54 years
3,200
1,620
1,575
55 to 59 years
2,825
1,480
1,345
60 to 64 years
2,105
1,110
1,000
65 to 69 years
1,410
785
630
70 to 74 years
820
450
370
75 to 79 years
465
230
235
80 to 84 years
300
155
145
85 to 89 years
150
65
80
90 to 94 years
55
25
35
95 to 99 years
20
5
10
Ethnic groups in Northwest Territories
People up to third generation are officially termed as non-immigrants and thereon the people inflow is termed as immigrants. Below table indicates Northwest Territory Citizenship details:
Residents
Population
Male
Female
Canadian citizens
39,585
20,145
19,435
Canadian citizens aged under 18
10,235
5,130
5,105
Canadian citizens aged 18 and over
29,345
15,020
14,335
Not Canadian citizens
1,555
755
790
Immigrant status and period of immigration: Immigrant refers to a person who is or has ever been a landed immigrant/permanent resident. This person has been granted the right to live in Canada permanently by immigration authorities. Some immigrants have resided in Canada for a number of years, while others have arrived recently. Some immigrants are Canadian citizens, while others are not. Most immigrants are born outside Canada, but a small number are born in Canada.
Immigrants
Population
Male
Female
Non-immigrants
37,140
18,865
18,275
Immigrants
3,690
1,875
1,815
Before 1981
705
390
315
1981 to 1990
410
205
205
1991 to 2000
620
355
265
2001 to 2010
1,135
530
610
2001 to 2005
510
260
255
2006 to 2010
625
270
355
2011 to 2016
815
400
420
Non-permanent residents
310
170
145
Immigrants by selected place of birth:
The Northwest Territory state officially categorizes its population into six groups, they are Native American/Alaskan Native, Pacific Islander, African American, European Whites, Asian, and Native Hawaiian. Below table is the Immigrants by selected place of birth:
Place of Birth
Population
Total Americas
450
Brazil
10
Colombia
15
El Salvador
25
Guyana
10
Haiti
10
Jamaica
80
Mexico
20
Peru
10
Trinidad and Tobago
10
United States
220
Other places of birth in Americas
60
The 2016 Canadian census counted a Total Europeans immigrants living in the Northwest Territories.
The Northwest Territories region of Canada recognizes 11 official languages, nine official Aboriginal languages, as well as English and French through its Official Languages Act. Of these, nine belong to three different Indigenous language families: Dene-Athapaskan (Chipewyan, Gwich'in, North Slavey, South Slavey, and Tłı̨chǫ), Inuit (Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, and Inuvialuktun), and Algonquian (Cree).
Language
Population
English
39,875
French
1,165
English and French
150
Neither English nor French
195
Language spoken at Home: Indigenous languages are frequently spoken throughout the Northwest Territories in smaller communities that have high proportions of resident speakers.
Language Spoken at Home
Population
English
31,765
French
1,175
Non-official languages
7,625
Aboriginal languages
4,635
Algonquian languages
145
Blackfoot
5
Cree-Montagnais languages
130
Plains Cree
5
Swampy Cree
5
Cree, n.o.s.
120
Eastern Algonquian languages
5
Ojibway-Potawatomi languages
15
Ojibway
15
Athabaskan languages
3,875
Northern Athabaskan languages
3,875
Dene
440
Dogrib (Tlicho)
1,600
Gwich'in
140
Slavey-Hare languages
1,690
North Slavey (Hare)
745
South Slavey
775
Slavey, n.o.s.
175
Inuit languages
600
Inuinnaqtun (Inuvialuktun)
470
Inuktitut
110
Inuit languages, n.i.e.
20
Mohawk
5
Michif
5
Aboriginal languages, n.o.s.
5
Non-Aboriginal languages
2,990
Afro-Asiatic languages
215
Berber languages
5
Berber languages, n.i.e.
5
Cushitic languages
50
Somali
45
Semitic languages
160
Amharic
20
Arabic
120
Tigrigna
20
Austro-Asiatic languages
165
Vietnamese
160
Austronesian languages
910
Bikol
5
Cebuano
60
Hiligaynon
15
Ilocano
70
Pampangan (Kapampangan, Pampango)
5
Pangasinan
5
Tagalog (Pilipino, Filipino)
745
Austronesian languages, n.i.e.
5
Creole languages
40
Haitian Creole
5
Creole, n.o.s.
25
Creole languages, n.i.e.
15
Dravidian languages
60
Malayalam
25
Tamil
20
Telugu
15
Indo-European languages
1,045
Albanian
10
Armenian
45
Balto-Slavic languages
220
Slavic languages
220
Belarusan
5
Bosnian
5
Bulgarian
10
Croatian
15
Czech
15
Macedonian
5
Polish
45
Russian
40
Serbian
15
Slovak
25
Slovene (Slovenian)
10
Ukrainian
35
Celtic languages
10
Welsh
5
Germanic languages
270
Afrikaans
20
Danish
5
Dutch
55
German
170
Icelandic
5
Swedish
10
Greek
20
Indo-Iranian languages
285
Indo-Aryan languages
245
Bengali
70
Gujarati
15
Hindi
40
Marathi
5
Nepali
20
Punjabi (Panjabi)
50
Sinhala (Sinhalese)
10
Urdu
45
Iranian languages
35
Pashto
5
Persian (Farsi)
30
Indo-Iranian languages, n.i.e.
5
Italic (Romance) languages
190
Italian
50
Portuguese
25
Romanian
10
Spanish
105
Japanese
60
Korean
40
Mongolian
5
Niger-Congo languages
135
Akan (Twi)
15
Ganda
10
Igbo
5
Lingala
5
Kinyarwanda (Rwanda)
5
Shona
40
Swahili
5
Yoruba
5
Niger-Congo languages, n.i.e.
50
Nilo-Saharan languages
5
Nilo-Saharan languages, n.i.e.
5
Sign languages
5
Sign languages, n.i.e
5
Sino-Tibetan languages
250
Chinese languages
250
Cantonese
110
Mandarin
60
Chinese, n.o.s.
75
Tai-Kadai languages
10
Lao
5
Thai
5
Turkic languages
5
Turkish
5
Uzbek
5
Uralic languages
30
Estonian
5
Finnish
10
Hungarian
20
Marital status for 2016 census of Northwest Territory was reported for each person as either married, widowed, divorced, separated, or never married. Individuals who were living together (unmarried people, people in common-law marriages) reported the marital status which they considered most appropriate. Northwest Territories population in 2023 is estimated to be 40,784, population in 2022 is estimated to be 40,927, Northwest Territories population in 2021 is estimated to be 41,070.
Status
Total
Married or living common law
17,955
Married
11,585
Living common law
6,375
Not married and not living common law
14,955
Never married
11,840
Separated
800
Divorced
1,315
Widowed
1,010
Income Distribution
10.66 percent of the Northwest population having an annual income of under $10,000, 21.65 percent having annual income between $10,000 to $39,000 representing the largest group, Moreover, some 8 percent had an annual income between 60,000 and 79,999 Canadian dollars, 18 percent of the NWT population had an annual income of 100,000 Canadian dollars or more.
