Recent
For hundreds of years, this area had been considered the largest 'uncivilized' area in the world. However, within the last 20 years, specifically in the last 5 years, this area has started to boom with the rest of Canada. Although it has not been on the same scale, some towns and cities have seen population increases not seen for several decades before. Yellowknife has become the centre of diamond production for all of Canada (which has become one of the top three countries for diamonds).
Also resulting from a diamond boom, the per capita income of the Northwest Territories is at almost $95,000.
In the Canada 2006 Census, the three territories posted a combined population of over 100,000 people for the first time in Canadian history.
Read more about this topic: Northern Canada