Yellowknife[a] is the capital, largest community, and the only city in theNorthwest Territories, Canada. It is on the northern shore ofGreat Slave Lake, about 400 kilometres (250 mi) south of theArctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of theYellowknife River.
Yellowknife and its surrounding water bodies were named after a localDene tribe, who were known as the "Copper Indians" or "Yellowknife Indians", today incorporated as theYellowknives Dene First Nation. They traded tools made fromcopper deposits near the Arctic Coast. Modern Yellowknives members can be found in the city as well as in the adjoining, primarily Indigenous communities ofNdilǫ andDettah.
The city's population was 20,340 per the2021 Canadian census.[5][6] Of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories, five are spoken in significant numbers in Yellowknife:Dene Suline,Dogrib,South and North Slavey, English, and French. In the Dogrib language, the city is known asSǫǫ̀mbak’è (Athapascan pronunciation:[sõːᵐbakʼe], "where the money is").[13][14]
The Yellowknife settlement is considered to have been founded in 1934,[2] aftergold was found in the area, although commercial activity in the present-day waterfront area did not begin until 1936. Yellowknife quickly became the centre of economic activity in the NWT, and was named the capital of the Northwest Territories in 1967. As gold production began to decrease, Yellowknife shifted from being amining town to a centre of government services in the 1980s. However, with the discovery ofdiamonds north of the city in 1991,[15] this shift began to reverse. In recent years, tourism, transportation, and communications have also emerged as significant industries in Yellowknife.[16]
The area around the community is the historic and traditional home of theYellowknives Dene, the land'sFirst Nations residents.Dettah was the first formal settlement in the area, which was founded by the Yellowknives in the 1930s and located on a point of land on the east side of Yellowknife Bay.[17] The name Dettah means Burnt Point and refers to a traditional fishing camp that the Dene used for hundreds of years. The current municipal area of Yellowknife was first occupied by prospectors who ventured into the region in the mid-1930s.[18]
AKlondike-bound prospector, E.A. Blakeney, made the first discovery of gold in the Yellowknife Bay area in 1898. The discovery was viewed as unimportant in those days because of theKlondike Gold Rush and because Great Slave Lake was too far away to attract attention.[19]
In the late 1920s, aircraft were first used to explore Canada'sArctic regions. Samples ofuranium andsilver were uncovered atGreat Bear Lake in the early 1930s, and prospectors began fanning out to find additional metals.[20] In 1933 two prospectors, Herb Dixon and Johnny Baker, canoed down the Yellowknife River from Great Bear Lake to survey for possible mineral deposits. They found gold samples at Quyta Lake, about 30 km (19 mi) up the Yellowknife River, and some additional samples at Homer Lake.[21]
Yellowknife from Back Bay. In the 1930s, the area was home to a number ofprospectors.
The following year, Johnny Baker returned as part of a larger crew to develop the previous gold finds and search for more. Gold was found on the east side of Yellowknife Bay in 1934 and the short-livedBurwash Mine was developed. When government geologists uncovered gold in more favourable geology on the west side of Yellowknife Bay in the fall of 1935, a small staking rush occurred.[22] From 1935 to 1937, one prospector and trapper named Winslow C. Ranney staked in the area between David Lake and Rater Lake with few commercial results. The nearby hill known asRanney Hill is his namesake and a popular hiking destination today.Con Mine was the most impressive gold deposit and its development created the excitement that led to the first settlement of Yellowknife in 1936–1937. Some of the first businesses were Corona Inn,Weaver & Devore Trading, Yellowknife Supplies and post office, andThe Wildcat Cafe. Con Mine entered production on 5 September 1938. Yellowknife boomed in the summer of 1938 and many new businesses were established, including theCanadian Bank of Commerce,Hudson's Bay Company, Vic Ingraham's first hotel, Sutherland's Drug Store, and a pool hall.
The population of Yellowknife quickly grew to 1,000 by 1940, and by 1942, five gold mines were in production in the Yellowknife region. However, by 1944, gold production had ground to a halt as men were needed forthe war effort. An exploration program at theGiant Mine property on the north end of town had suggested a sizable gold deposit in 1944. This new find resulted in a massive post-war staking rush to Yellowknife.[23] It also resulted in new discoveries at the Con Mine, greatly extending the life of the mine. The Yellowknife townsite expanded from the Old Town waterfront, and the new townsite was established during 1945–1946. TheDiscovery Mine, with its own townsite, operated 81 km (50 mi) to the north-northeast of Yellowknife from 1950 to 1969.[24]
Mid 20th-century Yellowknife; the community was incorporated as a municipality in 1953.
Between 1939 and 1953,Yellowknife Administration district was controlled by theNorthern Affairs department (now Crown–Indigenous Relations and Northern Affairs Canada) of theGovernment of Canada. A small council, partially elected and partially appointed, made decisions. By 1953, Yellowknife had grown so much that it was made a municipality, with its own council and town hall. The first mayor of Yellowknife wasJock McNiven. In September 1967, Yellowknife officially became thecapital of the Northwest Territories. This important new status sparked what has been called the third boom in Yellowknife. New sub-divisions were established to house an influx of government workers.[3]
In 1978 theSoviet nuclear-powered satelliteKosmos 954 crashed to Earth near Yellowknife. There were no known casualties, although a small quantity of radioactivenuclear fuel was released into the environment, andOperation Morning Light—an attempt to retrieve it—was only partially successful.[25]
A new mining rush and fourth building boom in Yellowknife began with the discovery of diamonds 300 km (190 mi) north of the city in 1991.[26] TheGiant Mine was the subject of a bombing during alabour dispute in 1992 that resulted in one of the deadliest mass murders in Canada with 9 deaths.[27][28] The last of the gold mines in Yellowknife closed in 2004. Today, Yellowknife is primarily a government town and a service centre for the diamond mines. On 1 April 1999, its purview as capital of the NWT was reduced when the territory ofNunavut was split from the NWT. As a result, jurisdiction for that region of Canada was transferred to the new capital city ofIqaluit. Consequently, Yellowknife lost its standing as the Canadian capital city with the smallest population.[29]
On 16 August 2023, the territorial government began evacuating Yellowknife aswildfires approached the city,[30] fearing that theYellowknife Highway (Highway 3)—the main road leading into Yellowknife—would soon be inaccessible.[31] The government also worked with homeless residents to assist them in evacuating.[32]
Air Canada andWestJet were initially criticized for high prices and unwaived cancellation fees for flights to and from Yellowknife, but they have since changed policies to alleviate financial burden for evacuees. Both carriers also increased the number of flights to Yellowknife.[33]
The smoke from the236 active wildfires in the Northwest Territories spread quickly across Canada due to powerful winds and was compared by news sources to the2023 Hawaii wildfires, which similarly started in a dry and windy environment. As of 17 August 2023[update], the fire was 162,936 ha (402,620 acres) in size, at 16 km (9.9 mi) distance from the city.[34]
On 19 August 2023, 87 percent of the city was evacuated as of 6:58 am (ET), with only 2,600 of the original 20,000 remaining, 1,000 of whom were essential workers.[35] NWT PremierCaroline Cochrane announced that she had evacuated to Alberta to avoid taking up a space on one of the last planes to leave.[36]
The evacuation order was rescinded 6 September and Yellowknife residents began to return later that day.[37] An estimated 1,000 people had been flown home by September 8.[38]
Yellowknife was scoured down to rock during thelast glacial period, making the landscape very rocky, and slightly rolling, with many small lakes.
Yellowknife is on theCanadian Shield, which was scoured down to rock during thelast ice age.[39] The surrounding landscape is very rocky and slightly rolling, with many small lakes in addition to the larger Great Slave Lake.[40] Trees such as spruce andbirch are abundant in the area, as are smaller bushes, but there are also many areas of relatively bare rock withlichen.[41] Yellowknife's high latitude causes a large variation between day and night. Daylight hours range from five hours of daylight in December to 20 hours in June.Civil Twilight lasts all night from late May to mid-July.[42]
Yellowknife has asubarctic climate (Köppen:Dfc,TrewarthaEcld). Although winter is predominantly polar, rapidheat waves emerge at the summit of summer due to the immense path south.[43] The city averages less than 300 mm (12 in) of precipitation annually, as it lies in therain shadow of mountain ranges to the west.[44] Due to its location on Great Slave Lake, Yellowknife has a frost-freegrowing season that averages slightly over 100 days.[39] In an occasional year, the first fall frost does not come until October.[45] Most of the limited precipitation falls between June and September, with April being the driest month of the year and August having the most rainfall. Snow that falls in winter accumulates on the ground until the spring thaw.
Heavyice fog can develop on the coldest winter mornings
Yellowknife experiences very cold winters and mild to warm summers. The average temperature in January is around −26 °C (−15 °F) and 17 °C (63 °F) in July.[44] According toEnvironment and Climate Change Canada, Yellowknife has the sunniest summer in the country, averaging 1,034 hours from June to August.[46] The lowest temperature ever recorded in Yellowknife was −51.2 °C (−60.2 °F) on 31 January 1947, and the highest was 32.6 °C (90.7 °F) on 2 August 2021.[44] Yellowknife averages 2256.5 hours of bright sunshine per year or 43.5% of possible daylight hours, ranging from a low of 15.4% in December to a high of 63.0% in June.[44] Due to its warm summer temperatures, Yellowknife is well below the Arctictree line in stark contrast to areas farther east in Canada on similar parallels.
In 2014, Environment Canada ranked Yellowknife as having the coldest winter and longest snow cover season, along with the sunniest spring and summer, of any city in Canada.[47]
The area has elevated levels of arsenic due to the region's geology and past mining operations. The bedrock contains arsenopyrite, a naturally occurring mineral that contains arsenic, iron, and sulfur. Gold mining in the 20th century released large amounts of arsenic into the environment. The roasting process used to extract gold from arsenopyrite ores created arsenic trioxide as a byproduct, which was often released directly into the environment. The Giant Mine, which operated from 1948 to 2004, left behind 237,000 tonnes of arsenic trioxide waste on site. The mine is located 4 km north of Yellowknife's city limits. The Government of the Northwest Territories is working with researchers to monitor and study arsenic levels in the area. The Giant Mine Remediation Project is a billion-dollar cleanup effort that will take about 10 years to complete. There are several ongoing programs to monitor residents for elevated levels of arsenic.[52][53]
Downtown Yellowknife is home to most of the city's commercial activity
Yellowknife, like most other urban centres, has distinct commercial, industrial, and residential areas. Frame Lake, Niven Lake, Range Lake, and Old Town are the residential sectors, with some of the population living in high-rises in the downtown core. Niven Lake is the only area under active development and expansion.[54] Downtown Yellowknife is home to most of the city's commercial activity, though some retail does exist in Range Lake. Industrial activity is limited to the Kam Lake and airport subdivisions.[55]
Jolliffe Island sits in Yellowknife Bay and is public land under the jurisdiction of the City of Yellowknife after a land purchase whenImperial Oil vacated the site.[56] The island is surrounded by a community of houseboats, where people have been living off the grid since 1978.[57] Their relationship with the city is complex and often strained as the houseboats are popular with sightseers, but at the same time their residents live outside of the city's tax jurisdiction while still using city services, leading to lawsuits and tensions with the City of Yellowknife.[58]
Yellowknife has amunicipal government system and is governed by theYellowknife City Council, which consists of an electedmayor and eightcouncillors.[59] The Government of the Northwest Territories delegates powers to the municipality through legislative acts and regulations. Council meetings are held in the Council Chambers at City Hall on the second and fourth Monday of each month, and are open to the public. Municipal elections are held every three years.[60] The current mayor of Yellowknife isBen Hendriksen, former deputy and acting mayor who was appointed to succeededRebecca Alty. Alty, who ran for theLiberal Party, was the successful candidate inNorthwest Territories electoral district at the2025 Canadian federal election.[4]
Processing plants atSnap Lake Diamond Mine, located 220 km (140 mi) northeast of Yellowknife. Yellowknife's economy recovered in the 1990s due to a number of diamond mines located outside the city.
As the largest city in the Northwest Territories, Yellowknife is the hub for mining, industry, transportation, communications, education, health, tourism, commerce, and government activity in the territory.[66] Historically, Yellowknife'seconomic growth came from gold mining, and later government; however, because of falling gold prices and increased operating costs, the final gold mine closed in 2004, marking a turning point for Yellowknife's economy.[67]
After a downturn in the 1990s during the closure of the gold mines and the downsizing of the government workforce in 1999, Yellowknife's economy has recovered, largely because of the diamond boom;[67] theEkati Diamond Mine, owned and operated byBHP Billiton (sold toDominion Diamond Corporation in 2013), opened in 1998.[68] A second mine,Diavik Diamond Mine, began production in 2003.[69] Production from the two operating mines in 2004 was 12,618,000carats (2,523.6 kg; 5,563.6 lb), valued at overCA$2.1 billion. This ranked Canada third in world diamond production by value, and sixth by weight. A third mine, theDe Beers ownedSnap Lake Diamond Mine, received final approval and funding in 2005 and went into production in 2007.[70] De Beers also applied in 2005 for a permit to open theGahcho Kue Diamond Mine Project on the property formerly known asKennady Lake. The mine was officially opened on 20 September 2016, and began commercial production in March 2017.[71] As well, growth and expansion in natural gas development and exploration sectors has contributed to this growth. Economic growth in the Northwest Territories was 10.6% in 2003.[72]
The major employers in Yellowknife include the Territorial Government, the Federal Government, Diavik Diamond Mines, Dominion Diamonds, DeBeers Canada,First Air,NorthwesTel, RTL Robinson Trucking, and the City of Yellowknife. Government employment accounts for 7,644 jobs, a large percentage of those in Yellowknife.[73]During winter, theTibbitt to Contwoyto Winter Road is opened forsemi-trailer truck traffic to take supplies from Yellowknife north to various mines located in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut. Thisice road is usually open from the end of January through late March or early April, and Yellowknife becomes the dispatch point for the large number of truck drivers that come north to drive on the ice roads. During the 2007 ice road season, several drivers were featured on theHistory Channel TV seriesIce Road Truckers.
Tourism is the largest renewable industry in the NWT and Yellowknife is the main entry point for visitors. Many tourists come to experience the Northern climate and traditional lifestyle, as well as to see theaurora. In 2004–2005, visitors to the territory spentCA$100.5 million.[60]
The City of Yellowknife raises 50% of its operating revenue throughproperty taxation. BothYellowknife Education District No. 1 andYellowknife Catholic School Board also raise a portion of their operating revenue through property taxation. Property taxes in Yellowknife are calculated through property assessment and the municipal and education mill rates. Mill rates in 2005 were 13.84 (residential) and 19.87 (commercial).[60]
Canadian North, a regional airline, was headquartered in Yellowknife,[74] in the Northwest Tower in downtown. The airline announced that when its lease was to expire in the end of August 2013, the airline will vacate the office and move it and 20 employees out of Yellowknife.[75] The airline is now headquartered inCalgary.[76]
Demolition of theheadframe atCon Mine in 2016. The gold mine, just south of the city limits, was in operation from 1938 to 2003. The headframe was the tallest building in the NWT until October 2016.
Yellowknife was originally established as a supply centre for numerous gold mines operating in the region in the late 1930s and early 1940s. The following is a list of the major mines, all of which are now closed. There were alsotungsten,tantalum anduranium mines in the vicinity. Most mines in the Yellowknife area are within the Kam Group, a part of theYellowknife greenstone belt.[77]
Policing in Yellowknife is provided by theRoyal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP); Yellowknife is the headquarters for G Division, and houses more than 30 officers.The City of Yellowknife Municipal Enforcement Division (MED) is responsible for municipal bylaw infractions and traffic infractions (within city limits). TheYellowknife Fire Department handles the city's fire, ambulance, rescue, and hazardous materials responses.[81] A point of debate has been the implementation of 911 services in Yellowknife (as of 2019, 911 was enabled in the city).[82] Through a partnership with five other Northwest Territories communities; the cost of installation is currently estimated at around $1 million a year. There have been a number of incidents where emergency services have been either misdirected, or improperly dispatched.[83] Health services are provided through the localStanton Territorial Hospital. The Yellowknife Primary Care Centre has a broad range of practitioners including physicians, nurse practitioners, nurses, counsellors, dieticians and more. Services provided at the Yellowknife Primary Care Centre include mental health, diabetes education, diagnostic imaging, psychiatry and some home care services.[84]
Yellowknife's telephone services were established in 1947 by the independent Yellowknife Telephone Company, owned by investors mostly within the community. The system was sold at the end of 1963 toCanadian National Telecommunications, now Northwestel. Northwestel also provides manual mobile telephone service on VHF frequencies, and by the 1990s also provided cellular services that were later transferred toBell Mobility. In 2008, northern-based companyIce Wireless entered the market in Yellowknife, providing digital cellular products and services.
Yellowknife's television services, in addition to over-the-air transmission begun in 1967, included the Mackenzie Media cable television system placed in service 1 September 1972, which was sold to Northwestel in late 1995.
Electricity is provided to Yellowknife byNorthland Utilities, serving 6,350 residential and 800 commercial customers. Yellowknife operates almost entirely onhydroelectricity from the Snare-Bluefish systems,[85] provided by theNorthwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC). NTPC's local production capacity is 67.9 megawatts, 30.89 MW from 10 generators at the Jackfish Diesel Plant, 28.8 MW from Snare Lake, and 7.5 MW from Miramar Bluefish.[86]
Residential garbage removal is through a user pay system, in which residents are allowed three 77 L (17 imp gal; 20 US gal) garbage bags per week; any additional bags must have a purchased tag.[81] The City of Yellowknife Solid Waste Management Facility is located on theIngraham Trail (Highway 4) 2 km (1.2 mi) north of the city;[87] salvaging is encouraged, and the dump is infamous for the number of still useful items often found in it.[88]
The City of Yellowknife provides pressurizedpotable water throughout the majority of the city, and has a network of gravity-fed sewage lines; trucked water and sewage is provided in areas not serviced by piped infrastructure.Sewage, with the aid of lift stations, is pumped to a series of lakes, referred to as Fiddler's Lake Lagoon, where it is held and allowed to naturally decompose. Water is obtained from the Yellowknife River and is disinfected withchlorine and liquidfluoride is added, but is not otherwise filtered or treated.[89]
YKTransit (formerly Yellowknife Transit) is thepublic transportation agency in the city, operating three regular services Monday-Saturday and one express route on weekdays. It is the only transit system in the Northwest Territories.[92][93]
Road construction in Yellowknife is often a challenge due to the presence ofpermafrost which requires that roads generally be regraded and resurfaced every 10 to 20 years. Most roads in Yellowknife are paved and road width varies from 9 to 13.5 m (30 to 44 ft). Winter snow removal is done on a regular schedule by the City of Yellowknife public works department.[81] Speed limits are 45 km/h (28 mph) on most roads, 30 km/h (19 mph) inschool zones, and 70 to 100 km/h (43 to 62 mph) on highways. School zones and playground zones are in effect 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The highway system in the NWT is maintained by the Government of the Northwest Territories. Highway 4 (Ingraham Trail) andHighway 3 (Yellowknife Highway) both run through Yellowknife and are all-weather roads.[81] One well-known, almost infamous, road in Yellowknife isRagged Ass Road, after whichTom Cochrane named an album.
Until 2012, Yellowknife did not have a permanent road connection to the rest of Canada's highway network, as theYellowknife Highway relied, depending on the season, onferry service or anice road to cross theMackenzie River.[94] With the completion of theDeh Cho Bridge, which officially opened on 30 November 2012, the city now has its first direct road connection to the rest of the country.[94] One still-used ice road connects Yellowknife with the neighbouring community ofDettah, 6.5 km (4.0 mi) to the southeast across an arm of Great Slave Lake; or a 27 km (17 mi) drive via theIngraham Trail.
In the2021 Census of Population conducted byStatistics Canada, Yellowknife had a population of20,340 living in7,519 of its7,975 total private dwellings, a change of3.9% from its 2016 population of19,569. With a land area of 103.37 km2 (39.91 sq mi), it had a population density of196.8/km2 (509.6/sq mi) in 2021.[5]
As of the2016 Census, there were 19,569 people and 7,130households in the city. The population density was 185.5/km2 (480/sq mi). The 2016 Census found that 22.7% of residents identified asIndigenous.[97] In 2017, the Government of the Northwest Territories reported that the population was 20,834 with an average yearly growth rate of 0.6% from 2007.[11]
In Yellowknife, the population is slightly younger at 34.6 than the average age for the rest of the NWT which is 34.9. However, the population is slightly disproportionate in terms of age distribution compared to the national average of 41.0.[97][98] As of the 2016 figures, 13.9% of residents were 9 or under, 6.0% were from 10 to 14 years old, 13.1% were from 15 to 24, 34.1% were from 25 to 44, 22.0% were from 45 to 59, and 10.9% were 60 or older.[97]
In 2016, the average household size was 2.7 and the majority of the population with children had either one or two.[97] In 2015, the averageincome in the city wasCA$73,500, and the average income for a family wasCA$160,394, with 7.9% of all families earning less than $30,000.[11]Minimum wage in Yellowknife and the NWT isCA$13.46 (2018).[99] Average household expenditures wereCA$125,783 in 2015.[100] In 2016, theunemployment rate was at 5.9%; the employment rate for males was 80.1%, for females it was 75.2%.[11]
Thecrime rate in Yellowknife for 2016 was 46.7 (per 1,000 persons) forviolent crimes, and 167.2 (per 1,000 persons) for property crimes. There were 299 births and 62 deaths in 2014.[11]
The2021 census reported thatimmigrants (individuals born outside Canada) comprise 3,260 persons or 16.4% of the total population of Yellowknife. Of the total immigrant population, the top countries of origin were Philippines (965 persons or 29.6%), India (200 persons or 6.1%), United Kingdom (195 persons or 6.0%), Vietnam (160 persons or 4.9%), United States of America (110 persons or 3.4%), Germany (95 persons or 2.9%), Zimbabwe (75 persons or 2.3%), South Africa (75 persons or 2.3%), China (75 persons or 2.3%), Bangladesh (65 persons or 2.0%), Somalia (65 persons or 2.0%), and Pakistan (65 persons or 2.0%).[113]
Yellowknife is home to 695 recent immigrants (arriving between 2011 and 2016) who now make up 3.7% of the population. Of the recent immigrants 70.5% came from Asia; 15.1% from Africa and 7.2% from both the Americas and Europe. Of the recent immigrants 40.0% came from the Philippines, while 10.8% came from several African countries,[114] 5.8% each from India, the United Kingdom and Vietnam, 4.3% from each of Japan and South Korea and 2.2% from Israel.[97]
As of 2021, Yellowknife has a slightEuropean majority with a population of 11,110 (55.8% of total). The totalIndigenous peoples population is 4,810 representing 24.2% of the population (14.6%First Nations, 5.3%Métis, 3.5%Inuit, and 0.8% gave other Indigenous response). Other ethnic groups includeFilipino with 1,375 residents (6.9% of total),Black with 875 residents (4.4% of total), andSouth Asian with 615 residents (3.1% of total) with a totalvisible minority population of 3,990 (20.0% of total).[113]
Panethnic groups in the City of Yellowknife (2001−2021)
The Midnight Sun Golf Tournament, with games played through the city's well-lit summer nights, is also a significant cultural event.[122]
During the winter, there is theSnowking Winter Festival, featuring a snow castle on Great Slave Lake which hosts a month of cultural activities[123]
The Long John Jamboree,[124] a new winter festival, took place 23–25 March 2012 on the frozen Yellowknife Bay next to the Snowking castle, in Yellowknife's Old Town neighbourhood. Events include an ice sculpture contest sponsored by De Beers Canada, cultural events like Dene hand games, games, live music, a beer garden, food vendors, skating rink, artist's market, and much more.
Yellowknife hosted the inaugural 1970Arctic Winter Games, and has since hosted athletes and artists from circumpolar regions at the biennial multi-sport and multi-cultural event in 1984, 1990, 1998, and2008 Arctic Winter Games.
The Old Town Ramble & Ride Festival started in 2006 and happens every summer for three days on the August long weekend. This free outdoor festival promotes local art, culture, music, artisans, dance, storytelling, workshops, tours, children's area and more.
The Gold Range is a prominent hotel and bar located in Yellowknife.
First opened in 1937,Wildcat Cafe is the oldest restaurant in Yellowknife.
Elon Muskox, a muskox sculpture at the front of Yellowknife City Hall (summer).
Some notable places to visit in Yellowknife include:
The Wildcat Cafe, which first opened in 1937. The popular restaurant still operates in its original building during the summer, which was moved to its current location after being saved from demolition in the late 1970s. The Wildcat Cafe was renovated from 2011 to 2013. The City hosted a grand opening of the new Wildcat Cafe on 16 June 2013.[128]
TheGold Range Bar (also known as The Strange Range and listed in the circa 1989 phonebook as such), one of the oldest and most colourful drinking establishments in the Northwest Territories and featured inElizabeth Hay's novel "Late Nights On Air" andMordecai Richler's novelSolomon Gursky Was Here.[129]
Downtown contains the Capital Area Park, a short but pleasant stroll by City Hall,[130] the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre,[131] the Legislature.[132]
ThePrince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre is a museum containing exhibits of the history and culture ofInuit,Inuvialuit, Dene,Métis and non-aboriginal peoples of the NWT. It is found just north of downtown on an attractive location overlooking Frame Lake.
Other notable attractions include theIngraham Trail, local fishing lodges,bush plane tours, the unique architecture of Old Town with theBush Pilots monument, and any of the numerous lakes surrounding Yellowknife, many of which include beaches.
TheYellowknifer, published byNorthern News Services, is the major newspaper serving Yellowknife, published twice weekly on Wednesday and Friday. Northern News Services also publishesNorthwest Territories News/North every Monday, which serves the entire NWT. As well, there isL'Aquilon, a French language newspaper published weekly.Up Here magazine is based in Yellowknife, offering northern-related news and lifestyle articles. Edge Magazine, which began in 2011, was also based in Yellowknife and it covered arts, events, people, culture and economy around the city.
Cabin Radio, aninternet radio service, was launched in 2017.[137] It applied in 2019 for aCRTC license to launch as acommunity radio station, but its application was denied.[138] A new application was heard by the CRTC in February 2025;[139] on July 30, 2025, the CRTC approved Cabin Radio's application, assigning it the call letters CJFC-FM and the frequency of 93.9 FM.[140]
Parts of this article (those related to French-language transmitters) need to beupdated. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information.(November 2024)
Community-owned rebroadcaster ofCBFT-DT (Montreal). Status after 2010 is unknown; Ici Grand Nord[141] and Unis TV[142] were instead known to be broadcast on cable as of December 2023.
No part of the Northwest Territories is designated as a mandatory market fordigital television conversion; only CFYK-DT converted its main transmitter in Yellowknife to digital.
On 10 August 2012,NASA announced that the section ofMars where theCuriosity of theMars Science Laboratory mission landed would be renamed Yellowknife, in recognition of the city of Yellowknife. Yellowknife is usually where scientists start geological mapping expeditions when researching the oldest known rocks in North America.[143]
In 2026, Capitol Theatre was the only movie theatre in operation. In February of that year, its owner announced that their business had been struggling since theCOVID-19 pandemic, and that they planned to not renew their lease and cease operations by the end of March.[144]
^"Table 6: Population by census subdivisions, 1901–1961".1961 Census of Canada(PDF). Series 1.1: Historical, 1901–1961. Vol. I: Population. Ottawa:Dominion Bureau of Statistics. 8 March 1963.Archived(PDF) from the original on 2 September 2020. Retrieved1 February 2022.
^"Table 2: Population of Census Subdivisions, 1921–1971".1971 Census of Canada(PDF). Population. Vol. Census Subdivisions (Historical). Ottawa: Statistics Canada. July 1973.Archived(PDF) from the original on 27 August 2020. Retrieved1 February 2022.
^Countries not included in this figure are Algeria, Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast, Egypt, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Morocco, Nigeria, Somalia, South Africa, and Tunisia.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 October 2021)."Census Profile, 2016 Census".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (27 November 2015)."NHS Profile".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (20 August 2019)."2006 Community Profiles".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^Government of Canada, Statistics Canada (2 July 2019)."2001 Community Profiles".www12.statcan.gc.ca.Archived from the original on 7 November 2022. Retrieved15 January 2023.
^ab"Yellowknife".Religion (95A), Age Groups (7A) and Sex (3) for Population, for Canada, Provinces, Territories, Census Metropolitan Areas 1 and Census Agglomerations, 1991 and 2001 Censuses – 20% Sample Data. Statistics Canada. 1 March 2007.Archived from the original on 21 April 2019. Retrieved2 September 2018.
Bastedo, Jamie (2007).Yellowknife Outdoors: Best Places for Hiking, Biking, Paddling, and Camping. Calgary: Red Deer Press.ISBN978-0-88995-388-8.
Eber, Dorothy (1997).Images of Justice: A Legal History of the Northwest Territories As Traced Through the Yellowknife Courthouse Collection of Inuit Sculpture. McGill-Queen's Native and Northern Series. Vol. 28. Montreal: McGill-Queen's University Press.ISBN0-7735-1675-1.
Lewis, C. P.; Rode, A.; Theriault, A. (1981).Reports on the Yellowknife Laboratory and the Ikaluit Research Laboratory : working draft. Ottawa: Northern Social Research Division, Indian and Northern Affairs.
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