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The Polar Bear Swim Club trains at the Ruth Inch Memorial Pool in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories, Canada. |
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Yellowknife's geographical location
is 62°27N, 114°22W. To put this into perspective,
visit the neat
map or the City
of Yellowknife's home page. Be sure
to check out the Yellowknife
Links while you're there. |
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Another way to look at it is that Yellowknife is 1,513 road kilometers north of Edmonton, Alberta. That means we're a 1½ hour jet flight away from the nearest major centre. Some people express that as an eighteen hour drive, but during freeze up in the fall and breakup in the spring it's generally not a good idea to try the drive because the ferry that crosses the Mackenzie River can't always operate at these times. |
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Mining is a significant part of the economy in the Northwest Territories. There are several operating diamond mines (all fly in sites). BHP Billiton opened their Ekati mine in 2000 and Diavik and De Beers have gone into full production in recent years. |
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The area is famous for its Northern Lights, and people come from as far away as Japan just to witness this spectacular phenomenon. |
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Yellowknife has a wonderful museum called the Prince of Wales Northern Heritage Centre. It houses the territorial museum, the Northwest Territories Archives, and many heritage programs which extend into most of the thirty-three communities of the Northwest Territories. There is also a wealth of information to be found at the Yellowknife Public Library. |
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The local newspaper is the Yellowknifer. It is published every Wednesday and Friday. Many Yellowknife residents also rely on the News North publication that comes out each Monday and serves the entire Northwest Territories. Both of these newspapers are published by Northern News Services - check out their site for an excellent presentation of basic information about Yellowknife as well as current news stories. |
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