Yukon Territory

I

Introduction

Yukon Territory, administrative region of northwestern Canada. Its capital and largest city is Whitehorse. To the outsider the Yukon Territory remains inextricably associated with the rush for gold in the Klondike region at the end of the 19th century. The territory still depends largely on mining. Its mountainous terrain and severe climate have discouraged settlement and the development of other important economic activities. Furthermore, most of the minerals are produced by mining operations that require a high degree of technology but relatively few workers.

The Yukon presents a major challenge to modern technology because of the existence of permanently frozen earth, known as permafrost, which lies just below the ground surface. Permafrost blankets the Arctic zones and extends into many southern parts of the Yukon. Any warmth, whether from household heating or spells of mild weather, is likely to melt the top layers of the permafrost. As a result, roadbeds and building foundations have to be insulated from the permafrost to prevent them from sinking.

II

Physical Geography

The Yukon lies north of the 60th parallel of north latitude and partly within the Arctic Circle. Its area is 482,443 sq km (186,272 sq mi), including 8,052 sq km (3,109 sq mi) of inland water. The area of the Yukon Territory accounts for slightly less than 5 percent of Canada’s total area.

A

Natural Regions

The entire territory belongs to the physiographic province of Canada called the Cordilleran Region, or Cordillera. In the Yukon the Eastern System of the Cordillera contains a fringe of the Mackenzie Mountains as well as the Selwyn Mountains and the Richardson Mountains. The Interior System of the Cordillera is represented in the Yukon chiefly by the large Yukon Plateau. Through this plateau run the Yukon’s major rivers, including the Yukon, Klondike, Pelly, Stewart, Peel, and Porcupine rivers. The rivers have cut valleys in the plateau that are in some cases 300 to 600 m (1,000 to 2,000 ft) deep. The Yukon’s longest lakes, Kluane and Aishihik, are at the southern end of the plateau. Away from the river valleys, the plateau is generally rugged and rolling with an average elevation of about 1,200 m (about 4,000 ft) above sea level. To the southwest of the plateau lie the rugged peaks of the Saint Elias Mountains, which belong to the Coast Ranges of western North America and thus are classified with the Western System of the Cordillera. This mountain system contains the highest mountains in the Yukon, including 5,959-m (19,551-ft) Mount Logan, the highest peak in Canada. The Saint Elias Mountains also contain the mountain that was named for United States president John F. Kennedy after his assassination in 1963. In 1972 Kluane National Park and Reserve, the first national park in the Yukon, was established. Covering 22,000 sq km (8,500 sq mi) in the Saint Elias Mountains, it contains dramatic ice fields and much wildlife as well as Canada’s highest mountains.

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B

Climate

A subarctic climate prevails over most of the territory. In the extreme north and in the mountainous areas the climate is arctic. For this reason, habitation is limited to the river valleys in the southern part of the territory. Even in the more sheltered areas, such as Dawson, January temperatures average -30°C (-22°F) and often plunge to -46°C (-50°F). Temperatures in July at Dawson average 16°C (61°F). The frost-free period in the valleys of the Yukon Plateau averages only about 75 days, but the date of the first frost and the severity of the winters are highly unpredictable, depending on whether icy air masses from the Arctic or warmer currents of air coming from the northern Pacific Ocean prevail over the area.