Nunavut can’t be found on older maps because it is a new Canadian territory, it is the largest and newest federal territory of Canada.
It was carved out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories on April 1, 1999, and it is the first self-governing Native American territory in North America.
Nunavut is an Inuit word meaning “Our Land.”
Nunavut occupies one-fifth of Canada’s total land area, or about the size of Western Europe, but it had only about 29,000 people in 2009.
Most of its residents are Inuits, who used to be called Eskimos.
Its capital is Icialuit, which lies three degrees south of the Arctic Circle.
The north magnetic pole, the point toward which a compass needle points, is located in Nunavut’s Elizabeth Islands, at about 77° north latitude, 102° west longitude.
