One of 3 territories in Canada, comprising 483,450 square kilometres. It abuts Alaska on one side and the Northwest Territories on the other. Over half of the territory remains forested, and it is a haven for many rare and endangered species of flora and fauna.
The Yukon is situated on the Canadian Cordillera. High mountain ranges and a central plateau are drained by Canada's second-longest river, the Yukon. Mount Logan is the highest point in the Yukon and in Canada: elevation: 5,959 meters above sea level.
The Yukon is quite cold in winter. The region experienced an economic boom during the Klondike gold rush, although the impact on the region's first nations was quite negative. The capital city of Whitehorse contains about 23,638 of the 31,609 people (as of June 2006) who live in the Yukon. Next biggest is the former territory capital Dawson City with 1,781 souls.
Yukon territory is foverned by the 18 seat Yukon Legislative Assembly. The floral emblem is the fireweed, which appears on the official flag. The official gemstone is lazulite, and the official bird is the raven.
For further information, contact:
The Yukon Government Box 2703 Whitehorse, Yukon Y1A 2C6 http://www.gov.yk.ca/
Booze. Alcohol. Call it what you will, everyone who isn't an ascetic loves it, and Whitehorse has the highest number of bars per capita in Canada, and probably one of the highest in North America. Except Vegas. Nowhere has more bars than Vegas. There's Lizard's, which is a moderately classy bar. Fun on a Friday night. There's the Capital. Also fun, put it can get a little rowdy. For example, somewhere during 1999/2000, there was a big fight between several off-duty cops and some drug dealers. A man had his nose bitten off during the fight. I believe it was the bouncer. Actually, come to think of it, those are about the only two distinctive bars in Whitehorse.
Anyway, there's some info on the important things in Whitehorse. Enjoy.
The Yukon has been called by many one of the most over-governed places in the world, and certainly in Canada. For a territory of only ~30000 residents (the majority of which live in one small city) it has various city councils, a 17 member assembly (that's one member for every ~1700 people!). Moreover, unlike the other territories (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) it has a full-blown British style parliament with 3 represented political parties (a Liberal government, with an NDP opposition and the Yukon Party as a third party)! Add to this various Indian band councils. Also, the Yukon has one seat in the House of Commons in Ottawa (a Liberal), while the average riding in Canada has a population of ~100000.
Moral of the story: If you're planning on a career in politics, the Yukon ain't a bad place to move to :)
Super Bonus Trivia: One former government leader (Premier) of the Yukon, Eric Nielsen, would go on to represent the Yukon in Ottawa and eventually gain the position of Deputy Prime Minister of Canada (an office roughly equivalent to Vice President of the United States... although it's more about filling in for the Prime Minister when he's away, not when he's dead).
Eric's brother: none other than famous comedian Leslie Neilsen! (a native of the Northwest Territories).
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