Geography of Yukon
Yukon is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories.
Most of the territory is boreal forest with tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.
Except for the coastal plain on the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean) coast, most of Yukon is part of the American Cordillera.
The airstrip at Snag, 25 kilometres east of Beaver Creek near the Alaska border, experienced the lowest ever temperature measured in North America, −63.0 °C or −81.4 °F on February 3, 1947.
Precipitation is much greater in the mountains, and the snowpack continues to melt well into the summer, resulting in high water in July or August.
Source: Environment Canada[3] Except for the Arctic Ocean coastal plain and high elevations, most of Yukon is in the boreal forest ecoregion.
The lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) reaches its northern extreme in the south-central part of the territory, while tamarack (Larix laricina) is found in the southeast and the subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa) is found at higher elevations in the southern part of the territory.
The large mammals found throughout the territory include caribou (Rangifer tarandus, both barren-ground and woodland), moose (Alces alces), wolves (Canis lupus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) and American black bears (Ursus americanus).
Higher elevation have Dall sheep (Ovis dalli) and, in the south, Rocky Mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus).
Mustelids are also well represented and include the wolverine (Gulo gulo), Pacific marten (Martes caurina), American ermine (Mustela richardsonii), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), American mink (Neogale vison), and the river otter (Lontra canadensis).
Other than the burbot and northern pike, most of the large fish found in Yukon rivers, lakes and streams are salmonids.
Close to three quarters of the population is in the Whitehorse area, and the rest live in a number of other communities.
Traditionally, Yukon was inhabited by nomadic Athapaskan-speaking First Nations people who had established extensive trading networks with the Pacific Coast Tlingit.
The interior people traded copper, furs and meat for coastal products such as eulachon oil.
Notes: 1 Part of Whitehorse Census Agglomeration 2 Includes the town and adjoining First Nations settlements of Upper Liard and Two and One-Half Mile Village.
The world's largest known deposit of tungsten is in the Macmillan Pass area in the Mackenzie Mountains near the Northwest Territories border.
While Yukon is mostly covered with forests, most of the trees are small and take a long time to grow and regenerate because of the dry cold climate.
There is a considerable amount of small scale logging, but the only area that can sustain industrial forestry is in the southeast with its wetter climate.
A small amount of natural gas is currently produced in the southeast, but little exploration has been done in other parts of the Yukon.
In an effort to encourage natural resource exploration, the previous (2002–2011) Yukon Party government led by Dennis Fentie has suspended the application of the Protected Areas Strategy (established by a previous Yukon New Democratic Party government) and has indicated its intention of not creating additional protected areas or parks.
The Gwichʼin people of Old Crow are dependent on the Porcupine caribou herd for food and clothing, as are others in the Yukon.
The Porcupine caribou herd migrates to the coastal plain in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) in Alaska to give birth.
