[5][6] Of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories, five are spoken in significant numbers in Yellowknife: Dene Suline, Dogrib, South and North Slavey, English, and French.

Dettah was the first formal settlement in the area, which was founded by the Yellowknives in the 1930s and located on a point of land on the east side of Yellowknife Bay.

[17] The name Dettah means Burnt Point and refers to a traditional fishing camp that the Dene used for hundreds of years.

The discovery was viewed as unimportant in those days because of the Klondike Gold Rush and because Great Slave Lake was too far away to attract attention.

Samples of uranium and silver were uncovered at Great Bear Lake in the early 1930s, and prospectors began fanning out to find additional metals.

[20] In 1933 two prospectors, Herb Dixon and Johnny Baker, canoed down the Yellowknife River from Great Bear Lake to survey for possible mineral deposits.

[21] The following year, Johnny Baker returned as part of a larger crew to develop the previous gold finds and search for more.

When government geologists uncovered gold in more favourable geology on the west side of Yellowknife Bay in the fall of 1935, a small staking rush occurred.

Some of the first businesses were Corona Inn, Weaver & Devore Trading, Yellowknife Supplies and post office, and The Wildcat Cafe.

Yellowknife boomed in the summer of 1938 and many new businesses were established, including the Canadian Bank of Commerce, Hudson's Bay Company, Vic Ingraham's first hotel, Sutherland's Drug Store, and a pool hall.

There were no known casualties, although a small quantity of radioactive nuclear fuel was released into the environment, and Operation Morning Light—an attempt to retrieve it—was only partially successful.

[25] A new mining rush and fourth building boom in Yellowknife began with the discovery of diamonds 300 km (190 mi) north of the city in 1991.

[26] The Giant Mine was the subject of a bombing during a labour dispute in 1992 that resulted in one of the deadliest mass murders in Canada with 9 deaths.

[32] Air Canada and WestJet were initially criticized for high prices and unwaived cancellation fees for flights to and from Yellowknife, but they have since changed policies to alleviate financial burden for evacuees.

[35] NWT Premier Caroline Cochrane announced that she had evacuated to Alberta to avoid taking up a space on one of the last planes to leave.

Although winter is predominantly polar, rapid heat waves emerge at the summit of summer due to the immense path south.

[44] Due to its location on Great Slave Lake, Yellowknife has a frost-free growing season that averages slightly over 100 days.

[44] According to Environment and Climate Change Canada, Yellowknife has the sunniest summer in the country, averaging 1,034 hours from June to August.

[44] Due to its warm summer temperatures, Yellowknife is well below the Arctic tree line in stark contrast to areas farther east in Canada on similar parallels.

The roasting process used to extract gold from arsenopyrite ores created arsenic trioxide as a byproduct, which was often released directly into the environment.

These members, referred to as MLAs, are elected every four years and sit in the Northwest Territories Legislative Building, located in Yellowknife.

[70] De Beers also applied in 2005 for a permit to open the Gahcho Kue Diamond Mine Project on the property formerly known as Kennady Lake.

[76] Yellowknife was originally established as a supply centre for numerous gold mines operating in the region in the late 1930s and early 1940s.

In 2008, northern-based company Ice Wireless entered the market in Yellowknife, providing digital cellular products and services.

Yellowknife operates almost entirely on hydroelectricity from the Snare-Bluefish systems,[85] provided by the Northwest Territories Power Corporation (NTPC).

YKTransit (formerly Yellowknife Transit) is the public transportation agency in the city, operating three regular services Monday-Saturday and one express route on weekdays.

[96] With the completion of the Deh Cho Bridge, which officially opened on 30 November 2012, the city now has its first direct road connection to the rest of the country.

Of the recent immigrants 40.0% came from the Philippines, while 10.8% came from several African countries,[116] 5.8% each from India, the United Kingdom and Vietnam, 4.3% from each of Japan and South Korea and 2.2% from Israel.

For specific denominations Statistics Canada found that 36% of residents identified as Roman Catholic, 11% as Anglican, 10% for the United Church, about 2% each as Baptists, Lutheran, and Pentecostal, and more than 1% for The Salvation Army.

Edge Magazine, which began in 2011, was also based in Yellowknife and it covered arts, events, people, culture and economy around the city.