Northwest Territories

noun (used with a singular verb)

a territory of Canada lying N of 60 degrees N and extending E from the Yukon Territory to Nunavut. 519,732 sq. mi. (1,346,106 sq. km) Capital: Yellowknife.

Also called Old Northwest.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

British Dictionary definitions for old northwest

Old Northwest

noun

(in the early US) the land between the Great Lakes, the Mississippi, and the Ohio River. Awarded to the US in 1783, it was organized into the Northwest Territory in 1787 and now forms the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, and part of MinnesotaSee also Northwest Territory

Northwest Territories

pl n

a territory of NW Canada including part of Victoria Island and several other islands of the Arctic; comprised over a third of Canada's total area until Nunavut became a separate territory in 1999: rich mineral resources. Pop: 42 810 (2004 est). Area: 2 082 910 sq km (804 003 sq miles)Abbreviation: NWT

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

old northwest in Culture

Northwest Territories

Territory in northern Canada made up of several administrative districts, which include all the areas to the north of sixty degrees latitude between Hudson Bay and the Yukon and all the islands in Hudson Bay. Very sparsely populated, these territories make up more than one-third of Canada's total area.

Note

In 1998, Canada carved a homeland for the Inuit people, known as Nunavut (“Our Land”), from the Northwest Territories.