Article

Inuvik

Published Online August 7, 2012

Last Edited March 4, 2015

Inuvik, NWT, incorporated as a town in 1970, population 3463 (2011c), 3484 (2006c). The Town of Inuvik is located on the MACKENZIE RIVER delta, 97 km south of the BEAUFORT SEA and 1086 air km northwest of Yellowknife.

Inuvik, NWT, incorporated as a town in 1970, population 3463 (2011c), 3484 (2006c). The Town of Inuvik is located on the MACKENZIE RIVER delta, 97 km south of the BEAUFORT SEA and 1086 air km northwest of Yellowknife. The name is from the INUIT and means "place of man." The community was constructed in the late 1950s and early 1960s to replace the existing settlement of AKLAVIK, which was threatened by floods and erosion.

Present Day

Inuvik is the administration, communications and fur trading centre of the lower Mackenzie R area and is the largest community North of the ARCTIC CIRCLE. Until 1986 much of its economy was centred on nearby oil and gas exploration. Canadian Armed Forces facilities became Arctic College's Aurora Campus.