ABOUT NUNAVUT
Nunavut is the newest, largest, northernmost, and least populous territory of Canada. It was separated officially from the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, via the Nunavut Act and the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act,[9] though the boundaries had been contemplatively drawn in 1993. The creation of Nunavut resulted in the first major change to Canada's political map since the incorporation of the province of Newfoundland and Labrador in 1949.
Nunavut comprises a major portion of Northern Canada, and most of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Its vast territory makes it the fifth-largest country subdivision in the world, as well as the
North America's second-largest (after Greenland). The capital Iqaluit (formerly "Frobisher Bay") on Baffin Island in the east, was chosen by the 1995 capital plebiscite. Other major communities include the regional centres of Rankin Inlet and Cambridge Bay. Nunavut also includes Ellesmere Island to the far north, as well as the eastern and southern portions of Victoria Island in the west and Akimiski Island in James Bay far to the southeast of the rest of the territory. It is Canada's only geo-political region that is not connected to the rest of North America by highway.
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Nunavut is both the least populous and the largest in area of Canada's provinces and territories. One of the world's most remote, sparsely settled regions, it has a population of 31,906, mostly Inuit, spread over an area of just over 1,750,000 km2 (680,000 sq mi), the size of Western Europe. Nunavut is also home to the world's northernmost permanently inhabited place, Alert. A weather station farther down Ellesmere Island, Eureka, has the lowest average annual temperature of any Canadian weather station.
The economy of Nunavut is Inuit and Territorial Government, mining, oil gas mineral exploration, arts crafts, hunting, fishing, whaling, tourism, transportation, education - Nunavut Arctic College, housing, military and research – new Canadian High Arctic Research Station CHARS in planning for Cambridge Bay and high north Alert Bay Station. Iqaluit hosts the annual Nunavut Mining Symposium every April, this is a trade show that showcases many economic activities on going in Nunavut.
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There are currently two major mines in operation in Nunavut. Agnico-Eagle Mines Ltd – Meadowbank Division. Meadowbank is an open pit gold mine with an estimated mine life 2010–2018 and employs 678 persons. Cost to produce an ounce of gold is $913.00 The north holds vast reserves of coal, oil, and gas and, increasingly, these areas are being looked at to move into production.
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The other mine in production is the Mary River Iron Ore mine operated by Baffinland Iron Mines. It is located close to Pond Inlet on North Baffin Island. They produce a high grade direct ship iron ore.
The indigenous music of Nunavut includes Inuit throat singing and drum-led dancing, along with country music, bluegrass, square dancing, the button accordion and the fiddle, an infusion of European influence.
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The Inuit Broadcasting Corporation is based in Nunavut. The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) serves Nunavut through a radio and television production centre in Iqaluit, and a bureau in Rankin Inlet. The territory is also served by two regional weekly newspapers Nunatsiaq News published by Nortext and Nunavut News/North, published by Northern News Services, who also publish the regional Kivalliq News.
The film production company Isuma is based in Igloolik. Co-founded by Zacharias Kunuk and Norman Cohn in 1990, the company produced the 1999 feature Atanarjuat, winner of the Caméra d'Or for Best First Feature Film at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. It was the first feature film written, directed, and acted entirely in Inuktitut.
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In November 2006, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) and the Inuit Broadcasting Corporation announced the start of the Nunavut Animation Lab, offering animation training to Nunavut artists at workshops in Iqaluit, Cape Dorset and Pangnirtung. Films from the Nunavut Animation Lab include Alethea Arnaquq-Baril's 2010 digital animation short Lumaajuuq, winner of the Best Aboriginal Award at the Golden Sheaf Awards and named Best Canadian Short Drama at the imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival.
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In November 2011, the government of Nunavut and the NFB jointly announced the launch of a DVD and online collection entitled Unikkausivut (Inuktitut: Sharing Our Stories), which will make over 100 NFB films by and about Inuit available in Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun and other Inuit languages, as well as English and French. The Government of Nunavut is distributing Unikkausivut to every school in the territory.
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