Nunavut Day 2021: 10 Interesting Facts About The Canadian Territory

Nunavut Day, celebrated every year on July 9, commemorates Nunavut as a distinct territory in Canada. Once a part of the Northwest Territories that was created in 1870, this homeland of Canada's Inuit makes up a fifth of the country's landmass.

Nunavut is a vast area in Northern Canada that was created out of the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. Nunavut Day marks the passing of two important Nunavut Acts that led to its separation from the Northwest Territories -- the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act passed on July 9, 1993, and the Nunavut Act passed on April 1, 1999.

Initially, Nunavut Day was celebrated on April 1 as it was the official date when Nunavut became a separate territory. But in 2001, the celebrations were changed to July 9, as the passage of the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement was said to be more "historically significant" to the people of Nunavut.

Typically, Nunavut Day is celebrated with speeches, barbecues, games and history presentations. On this occasion, you could also try traditional Inuit food.

To mark the event, let's look at some interesting Nunavut facts that may make you want to pay it a visit. (Courtesy: National Today, Arctic Kingdom and Destination Nunavut)

There are four common languages spoken in Nunavut -- Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, English and French.
Nunavut is home to the Inuits, an indigenous group of people who have lived in the Arctic climates for thousands of years. About 84% of Nunavut's population comprises Inuits.
Nunavut is the youngest province/territory in Canada, but it is also the country's largest, encompassing 2,093,190 sq. km or nearly a million square miles. It also has the longest coastline in Canada.
Nunavut has five national parks and 10 territorial parks.
Nunavut is so big that if it were a country, it would be the 15thlargest in the world.
The world's northernmost permanently inhabited place, Alert, is in Nunavut.
Nunavut's provincial flower is the purple saxifrage, while its animal is the Canadian Inuit Dog.
Nunavut is only accessible by air or sea. Although there are roads within the communities, to get from one place to another, one has to use planes, snowmobiles or boats.
There are hardly any trees in Nunavut. The only place that has trees is in the southernmost parts of Nunavut, particularly close to Manitoba.
About 75% of the world's narwhals migrate into the waters of Nunavut.