Claim: There are people in Ontario.

The Northwest Territories -LRB- also known as NWT ; French : les Territoires du Nord-Ouest , TNO ; Athabaskan languages : Denendeh ; Inuinnaqtun : Nunatsiaq ; Inuktitut : ᓄᓇᑦᓯᐊᖅ -RRB- is a territory of Canada . At a land area of approximately 1144000 km2 and a 2011 population of 41,462 , it is the second largest and most populous of the three territories in Northern Canada . Its estimated population as of 2016 is 44,291 . Yellowknife became the territorial capital in 1967 , following recommendations by the Carrothers Commission .   The Northwest Territories , a portion of the old North-West Territory , entered the Canadian Confederation on July 15 , 1870 , but the current borders were formed on April 1 , 1999 , when the territory was subdivided to create Nunavut to the east , via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act . While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra , the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest -LRB- taiga -RRB- , and tundra , and its most northern regions form part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago .   The Northwest Territories are bordered by Canada 's two other territories , Nunavut to the east and Yukon to the west , and by the provinces of British Columbia , Alberta , and Saskatchewan to the south .