Northwest Territories April 1, 1999, when the territory was subdivided to create Nunavut to the east, via the "Nunavut Act" and the "Nunavut Land Claims Agreement". While Nunavut is mostly Arctic tundra, the Northwest Territories has a slightly warmer climate and is both boreal forest (taiga), and tundra, and its most northern regions form part of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The Northwest Territories is bordered by Canada's two other territories, Nunavut to the east and Yukon to the west, and by the provinces of British Columbia, Alberta, and Saskatchewan to the south. The name is descriptive, adopted by the British government during
Geography of Northwest Territories by the Hudson's Bay Company to the new Canadian confederation in 1870. Some of those lands were added to the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. Then the province of Manitoba was formed from them in 1870, and Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905, all south of 60° North. In 1898, the Yukon Territory was separated. The boundaries of the Northwest Territories were set in 1912 and stayed fixed until Nunavut was created in 1999. From 1920 until 1999 the Territories were divided into three districts: Franklin, Keewatin and Mackenzie. Ever since the 1982 patriation of the Canadian Constitution, several land claims