Yukon
is a northwestern Canadian territory, bordering
British Columbia (south), the Northwest
Territories (east), the Beaufort Sea (north) and the
U.S. state of Alaska (west). It is Canada's westernmost and smallest
territory by land area. Yukon has an estimated population of 47,126 (2025).
Whitehorse is the territorial capital and the largest settlement.
Yukon
was split from the Northwest Territories
by a federal statute in 1898 as the Yukon Territory. In 2002, a new statute
passed by the federal Parliament, that established Yukon as the territory's
official name, although "Yukon Territory" remains in popular usage.
The territory is named after the Yukon River, the longest river in the Yukon. The territory has an area of rugged mountains and elevated plateaus. Mount Logan (5,959 m), in Yukan at the Kluane National Park and Reserve, is the highest mountain in Canada and the second-highest in North America (after Denali in the U.S. state of Alaska). Most of the Yukon has a subarctic climate, characterized by long, cold winters and brief, warm summers. The coastal area along the Arctic Ocean has a tundra climate. Notable rivers include the Yukon, Pelly, Stewart, Peel, White, Liard, and Tatshenshini. Yukon is sparsely populated and largely unspoiled wilderness.
The Yukon's major industry is mining (lead, zinc, silver, gold, asbestos and copper). The federal government acquired the land from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870 and split it from the Northwest Territories in 1898 to fill the need for local government created by the population influx of the gold rush.
