Yellowknife

Capital of Northwest Territories, Canada, in Yellowknife Bay, on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake; population (2001 est) 16,500. It is the centre of a gold- and uranium-mining region, and the main hub of transport throughout the territories. Yellowknife was founded in 1935 after the discovery of gold in 1934. There are two gold mines inside the city limits, Canada's largest gold mine lies nearby, and diamond mining has developed to the north since 1996. Its name refers to the copper knives used by local Native Canadian Slavey peoples. It became the capital in 1967.