NOKTHWEST FRONTIER PROVINCE. 629 NORTHWEST TERRITORY. the Afjilian frontier, a euuiitry tovcred by the Sul.'iniaii Mountains. About •2.')0II,()00 acres of the districts around Peshawar are cultivated, and a lar^c portion of this area is irrif;ated. The caiijliil "f the provinci' is Peshawar (q.v.). NORTHWEST PASSAGE. Sec Pol.r Re- SEAUi II. 'northwest PROVINCES. Tlie former desiiriKition of the United Provinces of Agra and Oudli. British Tnilia. northwest TERRITORIES. The desig- liatiiiM fur llic spar-i'ly inhaliitcd rejiion of Can- ada which includes the orjranized territories of Assinil)oia, with a land area of 90,340 square miles: Alljcrta. aljout lUO.OOO square miles; and ^Saskatchewan. 114.000 square miles; and the uniiryani/cd territories of Athabasca, about 251, UOO siniare miles of laud area; Jlackenzie, about .")t);j,200 square miles; Vngava. about 4.5U,- 000 square miles; and Franklin, about 300,000 square miles. The term -Xortlnvest Territories' probably- referred originally to the region over «iiich the Northwest t'ompany exercised author- iiy. the territorial limits of which do not seem (m have ever been clearly defined. An Imperial act of ISbS enabled the "frown to accept of the Hudson's Bay Company the surrender of the lands known as Rupert's Land, the limits of which were also indefinite, for admission into the Do- minion. An act of ISK) provided that Piupert's Land and the Xorthwest Territories be admitted a^ a part of Canada under the name of the North- west Territories. In 1S70 Manitoba was made a province, under which in 1870 Keewatin was made a district. Manitoba was slightly enlarged in IssLand iu l.SO.S the Yukon Territory was estab- lished. In 1.SS2 the districts of Assiniboia, Sas- katchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca were formed, and in 180,5 the remaining portion was divided into the districts of L'ngava, Mackenzie, and I'ranklin. Of the Northwest Territories, a portion of the southwest belongs to the greater interior American Plain, and is less broken than the rryi(m farther north, much of it Ijeing prairie. North of tliis prairie region lies an immense wooiled area. As the inhospitable Arctic regions
- iic approached the forest growth becomes very
>ianty or disappears entirely, so that there is a '-vy considerable area of barren lan<l where little is found save lichens and mosses. The northern jportion of the Northwest Territories is mainly a broken plain draining into the Arctic Sea. The greater part of the Northwest Territories is characterized by short summers and long and vi'iv severe winters. For a fuller statement of ]pliysical conditions, see C.xada. A large variety of minerals is known to ex- i-t. l)ituminous coal and lignite being very abun- il:int in southern All>erta. Coal is mined in considerable quantities in the foothills of that region. In the southwest the soil is generally virv fertile, and the climatic conditions are siieh that hardy crops can be profitably grown. This region is practically all comprehended in the districts of Assiniboia. Alberta, and Saskatche- wan. In the census of IflOl it was found that 6..5fin.fl(i4 acres of this region, or .T..50 per cent, of the land surface, is occupied as farms and lots. Of the 22.813 farms of five acres and over. C4.08 per cent, were between 100 and 201 acres each. Over 03 per cent, of the farmers owned the farms they occupied. Over 24 per cent, of the farm land was in an improved state. Hay leads in respect to acreage, 155,870 acres in 1801, 831.157 in 1001. The acreage of wheat increased during the same period from 113,811 in 1801 to 530,274 in 1001, and oats gained from 01.li37 acres to 250,552. In the latter year there were 22.807 acres in barley, 9025 acres in potatoes, and 15,005 in forage crops for win- ter feeding. Small fruits are successfully raised, but the climatic conditions are not favorable for orchanls. The increase in the live stock was equallv marked, as is seen in the following table:" LIVE STOCK 1901 1891 Horses ttiree yoars and over 132.942 43.520 102.735 489.(XI4 1.54,1.52 73.926 39.267 21,709 Milcll COW8 37.003 194,824 .Slieep 64.920 16,283 The prairie land affords excellent facilities for pasturage. Only- the three southernmost districts have the advantage of railroad transjiortation. Settlements are being made in the territories of Alberta, Assiniboia, and Saskatchewan, and the total population of this area increased from 06,- 799 in 1891 to 158,940 in 1901. of whom a little over one-sixth are in Saskatchewan, and the re- mainder about evenly divided between Alberta and Assiniboia. In Ungava, Franklin, and Mac- kenzie there are large areas as yet unvisited by white man. The population of this region, together with Athabasca and Keewatin. increased from 32.1 G8 in 1891 to 52,709 in 1901. There is a scattered Indian population in the Northwest Territories and Keewatin, amounting in 1900 to 27,057, besi<les about half that number of half- breeds. The Northwest Territories are under the administration of a Lieutenant-Governor, ap- pointed by the Governor or Council of the Do- minion. He has an executive council of three members. There is a Legislative Assembly of 31 members. Only Alberta. Assiniboia, and Saskatchewan ha'e a form of local government with r(^)resentation in the legislature. The Ter- ritorial Government meets at Eegina. For a more detailed statement concerning settlements, etc.. see under titles of the separate districts. Consult Blanchard. The Oiscnvcn/ and Con- quest of tJie Northirest (Chicago, 1880). NORTHWEST TERRITORY. In American history, that jiortion of the national domain ly- ing, roughly speaking, north of the Ohio River, east of the Mississippi, south of the Great Lakes, and west of Pennsylvania, and embracing terri- tory which constitutes the ])rcscnt States of Ohio, Indiana. Illinois, ^fichigan, Wisconsin, and part of Minnesota — a total area of about 205.878 square miles. This territory passed into the pos- session of Great Britain by the Treaty of Paris in 1703. and by her was ceded to the United States of America in 1783. The greater part of it was chiimcd on the basis of their early charters, by 'irginia. New York. ]fassachnsetts. and Connec- ticut. The other States refused to recognize Ihese claims, and insisted that this territory should t>e1ong to the country as a whole. In 1780 Congress gave a solemn pledge that if the lands thus claimed were ceded to the Confederation they should be disposed of for the common bene- fit of all the States and admitted into the Union
