Demographics of Nunavut Demographics of Nunavut Nunavut is a territory of Canada. It has a land area of . In the 2016 census the population was 35,944, up 12.7% from the 2011 census figure of 31,906. In 2006, the latest year for which figures are available, 24,630 people identified themselves as Inuit (84.1% of the total population), 100 as North American Indian (0.3%), 130 Métis (0.4%) and 4,410 as non-aboriginal (15.1%). Nunavut's small and sparse population makes it unlikely the territory will be granted provincial status in the foreseeable future, although this may change if the Yukon, which is marginally less populous, becomes
Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) deposits. The island was believed to have deposits of coal and oil shale since the first half of the 20th century. The first Canadian Arctic island exploratory well was spudded in 1961 at Winter Harbour. It drilled Lower Paleozoic strata to a total depth of . In the 1970s, the northern portion of the island on the east side of the Sabine Peninsula proved to contain a major gas field, known as Drake Point. The lease was owned by Panarctic Oils, a joint operation with the Canadian Government. Melville Island (Northwest Territories and Nunavut) Melville Island is an uninhabited island