A Greater, Whiter North Trivia Quiz

Answer: Yellowknife

Yellowknife was established in the days of the Klondike, but was hundreds of miles away. Why did people visit? Many years later, it turned out that the nearby Yellowknife River was actually another spot at which gold could be panned. What odds, eh?
Until the 1990s, Yellowknife was the smallest of the Canadian capital cities, but with the closing of the gold mines and the separation of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, a new capital to the northeast was established (in 1999). To replace gold mining, diamonds were located in the lands surrounding the city becoming the top industry in the area.
Yellowknife is on the shores of Great Slave Lake, one of the largest in the world.

Answer: Inuvik

Inuvik is one of the northwestern-most spots in the Northwest Territories. Situated on the MacKenzie River, it was established in the 1960s in order to access Aklavik, a previously-established location to the west threatened by unsafe weather and geological conditions. One of the northernmost communities in all of the territory, it's in part of the country that receives more than a month of midnight sun, and another month of constant night.

There is also an igloo-shaped church (one of the northernmost on the continent) known as Our Lady of Victory. It's difficult to reach Inuvik in the winter, particularly due to the constant lack of sunlight and the poor driving conditions.

Answer: Hay River

Found on the Mackenzie Highway which heads north through Alberta into the Northwest Territories, Alexandra Falls is one of a few waterfall sites in the area, specifically Twin Falls Gorge. Hay River, the community named after the river itself, is upstream. Hay River was originally a trading post for native peoples dating back long before European settlers ventured over the Atlantic.

It was the first settlement in the territories to be linked to the provinces to the south...a distance of nearly six hundred kilometers. Hay River is also the furthest north in Canada that can be reached by train.

Answer: Whitehorse

Whitehorse was established in 1898 and can be found north of the borders of both British Columbia and Alaska (to which it's connected by the Alaska Highway). Although the Yukon River flows nearby, Whitehorse is one of the driest spots in Canada (despite much of Alberta being dry because of the Rocky Mountains).

The reason for this is the Coast Mountains in Alaska and the western Yukon. Like much of the rest of the Yukon, Whitehorse has a great deal of history in the gold rush. It's a stop on major train routes into the north connecting, once again, to Alaska. Surprisingly, it's got more citizens than Yellowknife to the east.

Answer: False

The image actually depicts Dawson City, a location north of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory. Aside from the gold mining aspect, Dawson City was once inhabited by tens of thousands of people but the number has since diminished. It was once the home of a number of famous Canadian writers (who later used it in their works) including Jack London and Pierre Berton. Dawson Creek is in northern British Columbia, but not quite at the border (instead it's the beginning of the Alaska Highway). None of the western provinces pass the sixtieth parallel; their borders with the territories mark the boundary.

Answer: Igloolik

Igloolik has been a town occupied by Inuit residents for over a century. Found on an island in the northern reaches of Canada, it was originally a trading post for the Inuit people and then, inevitably, a trading post for settlers and other Europeans. Found near the Melville Peninsula, Igloolik is closer to seventy degrees north latitude than sixty. Because of this it receives a great deal of sun in the summer and a great deal of night in the frigid winter.

It's also a national historical site because of its past with indigenous cultures.

Besides this, it's also a site of research, specifically for weather systems and arctic climate.

Answer: Iqaluit

Iqaluit became Nunavut's official capital when the territory was formed in 1999, but the location was an airbase back in the 1940s. Originally called Frobisher Bay (upon which it is situated), it returned to Iqaluit, a name referring to the amount of fish nearby (a lot). Iqaluit and the nearby town of Apex were both inhabited by American forces during its creation, but over time, after it lost its use as an airbase, it started being inhabited by Inuit residents. Iqaluit is three degrees south of the Arctic Circle on a map, but it shares much of the same weather and qualities as its northern counterparts.

For example, the city contains a great deal of permafrost and cold weather.

Answer: Repulse Bay

Repulse Bay, Nunavut is a small town inhabited by Inuit residents on the edge of the country. There are no roads into and out of Repulse Bay, so visitors will be arriving by plane or boat. Originally known as Naujaat, a name which refers to the high seagull population (during the summer), it's also a sanctuary for many species of birds-- dozens, in fact-- because of a lack of human infiltration on their nesting grounds. To get to Repulse Bay, you need to fly there from elsewhere in Nunavut, or from far south in Manitoba. The Repulse Bay in Hong Kong is relatively temperate...and home to very high-earning residents.

Answer: Eureka

Eureka, primarily used as a weather station since the 1940s, is very far north. Located close to the eightieth parallel, Eureka is the one of the northernmost spots on the globe you could live in. Not sure if you'd want to though...when October hits, there's no sun until February...and then it's all sun until the next October.

It's very dry and it's very cold. Temperatures are rarely above zero degrees (celsius) and they occasionally go thirty below (on average). Although there is a lot of wildlife which makes its way through Eureka and great deal of Arctic Willow, it's no zoo; it's actually pretty foreboding if you're not into weather calculations.

Answer: True

Alert is the northernmost habitation in the world and while only a small handful of people live there (and temporarily), it's a fairly important site, especially for those seeking passage to the North Pole. Found at eighty-two degrees latitude, Alert is just over eight hundred kilometers from the pole and just over two thousand kilometers from Iqaluit. If you run out of the essentials, you'd better believe you're not getting any for a while. Alert, like Eureka, is a major weather station in the north.

It's frigid, it's dry, and it's dark more than half the year. It's at the northern edge of Ellesmere Island and it's far away from everywhere.