| Yukon Territory A territory of northwest Canada east of Alaska. It joined the Confederacy in 1898. The region was first explored by fur traders in the 1840s and was acquired by Canada from the Hudson's Bay Company in 1870. A land claim made by the Yukon tribe of Native Americans was approved by the federal government in 1991. Whitehorse is the capital and the largest city. Population: 30,400. |
Territory in northwest Canada, bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Northwest Territories to the east, British Columbia to the south, and Alaska to the west.
Note: In the 1890s, gold strikes in the Klondike River region attracted over thirty thousand prospectors. (See Klondike gold rush.)