History of Northwest Territories capital cities territory for the Inuit. In 1982, a plebiscite on division was held throughout the Northwest Territories, in which a majority of the residents voted in favour of division. The land claims agreement was completed in September 1992 and ratified by a majority of voters. On July 9, 1993, the Nunavut Land Claims Agreement Act and the Nunavut Act were passed by the Canadian Parliament. In December, 1995, the Nunavut capital plebiscite was held, and the voters in the future Nunavut territory chose Iqaluit as their capital city, defeating Rankin Inlet. Iqaluit became the official capital on April 1, 1999, when
Yellowknife Yellowknife began with the discovery of diamonds north of the city in 1991. The last of the gold mines in Yellowknife closed in 2004. Today, Yellowknife is primarily a government town and a service centre for the diamond mines. On April 1, 1999, its purview as capital of the NWT was reduced when the territory of Nunavut was split from the NWT. As a result, jurisdiction for that region of Canada was transferred to the new capital city of Iqaluit. Consequently, Yellowknife lost its standing as the Canadian capital city with the smallest population. Yellowknife is on the Canadian Shield,