Yellowknife City Map Poster

About Yellowknife

The current municipality was incorporated on April 1, 1999. Its land area of makes it the largest city in the NWT, and its population of 19,569 makes it the third-largest community (after Iqaluit and Whitehorse). Yellowknife's historic growth has been facilitated through road construction. A major highway, known as "the Yellowknife Highway" or simply "Highway 3", was built between Yellowknife and Hay River to support mining activity in the region; this highway now also provides a vital link for other communities along its route from Alberta to Nunavut. The establishment of Grant MacEwan College's Northern Campus (in downtown Yellowknife) in 2002 has also helped spur growth by providing university facilities closer to residents who might not otherwise have access to post-secondary education opportunities that are available more widely throughout Canada. Another crucial transportation route is winter ice road trucking from Fort McMurray via Great Slave Lake/Dogrib Trail/NWT Route 3 into northern Saskatchewan which allows supplies like fuel oil & propane gas tanks etc.