Land and People

• The Yukon, with an area of 483,450 km², is mainly mountainous, with boreal forest land and Arctic and alpine tundra. Permafrost is widespread. The north is bounded by the Beaufort Sea.

• Seventy-five per cent of the 31,000 Yukon residents live in the greater Whitehorse area. The territory's economy is based on government, tourism and service industries, and resource industries such as mining and forestry. Hunting, fishing and picking berries are activities central to many Yukoners' way of life. Country foods make up 27 to 60 per cent of community food baskets in Ross River, Old Crow and Teslin.

• Nine per cent of the territory (44,787 km²) has some form of protected status. Six of the 23 ecoregions are represented in the system of parks and protected areas. Many protected areas in the Yukon, including Ivvavik, Herschel Island and Vuntut parks, and Nisutlin River Delta National Wildlife Area were created as a result of land claim settlements.
  

• Approximately 80 per cent of the Yukon is wilderness, much more than the estimated three per cent of Europe and 41 per cent of all of North and Central America.

• Most areas of development are clustered along major roads. The network of roads has expanded greatly since the construction of the first major road, the Alaska Highway, during World War II.

• Only 1.3 per cent of the Yukon's estimated 6,680 km² of arable land has been developed for farming. The most suitable areas for agriculture are located in the Dawson City, Stewart River and Carmacks areas. Whitehorse, though it has less suitable soils, is the major area where agricultural development is taking place.