Yukon (population as of the 2021 census 40,232) is in the northwestern corner of Canada and is bordered by Alaska, British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. The sparsely populated territory abounds with natural scenery, snowmelt lakes and perennial white-capped mountains, including many of Canada's highest mountains. The territory's climate is Arctic in territory north of Old Crow, subarctic in the region, between Whitehorse and Old Crow, and humid continental climate south of Whitehorse and in areas close to the British Columbia border. Most of the territory is boreal forest with tundra being the main vegetation zone only in the extreme north and at high elevations.
The territory is about the shape of a right triangle, bordering the American state of Alaska to the west, the Northwest Territories to the east and British Columbia to the south. Yukon covers , of which is land and is water, making it the thirty-sixth largest subnational entity in the world.
Yukon is bounded on the south by the 60th parallel of latitude. Its northern coast is on the Beaufort Sea. Its western boundary is 141° west longitude. Its ragged eastern boundary largely follows the divide between the Yukon River basin and the Mackenzie River watershed to the east in the Mackenzie Mountains.
Physical geography Except for the coastal plain on the Beaufort Sea (Arctic Ocean) coast, most of Yukon is part of the American Cordillera. The terrain includes mountain ranges, plateaus and river valleys.
The southwest is dominated by the Kluane ice fields in Kluane National Park and Reserve, the largest non-polar ice fields in the world. Kluane National Park also contains eight of Canada's ten highest mountains, including the five highest, all in the Saint Elias Mountains. A number of glaciers flow out of the ice fields, including the Logan Glacier, the Hubbard Glacier and the Kaskawulsh Glacier.
Permafrost is common. The northern part of Yukon has continuous permafrost, while it is widespread in the central part. Even the southern Yukon has scattered patches of permafrost.
Two major faults, the Denali Fault and the Tintina Fault have created major valleys called trenches: the Shakwak Trench and the Tintina Trench. The Shakwak Trench separates the Kluane ranges from other mountain ranges north of it. The Haines Highway and the Alaska Highway north of Haines Junction are built in the Shakwak Trench. The Tintina Trench bisects the Yukon from northwest to southeast and its edges have rich mineral deposits including the Klondike gold and the lead-zinc deposits near Faro.
Volcanoes The volcanoes in Yukon are part of the circle of volcanoes around the Pacific Ocean known as the Ring of Fire. Yukon includes more than 100 separate volcanic centres that have been active during the Quaternary. The Fort Selkirk volcanic field in central Yukon is the northernmost Holocene volcanic field in Canada, including the young active cinder cone, Volcano Mountain. A volcanic field in south-central Yukon is called Alligator Lake volcanic complex. It contains two well-preserved cinder cones that caps a small shield volcano. Lava from the cones travelled north and were erupted at the same time. Volcanoes in south-western Yukon are part of the Wrangell Volcanic Field, which is related to the subduction of the Pacific plate beneath the North American plate at the easternmost end of the Avalanche Trench.
Yukon volcanoes include:
Volcano Mountain Alligator Lake volcanic complex Fort Selkirk volcanic field Pelly Formation Bennett Lake Volcanic Complex Sifton Range volcanic complex Rabbit Mountain Felsite Peak Ibex Mountain Mount McNeil Miles Canyon Basalts Ne Ch'e Ddhawa Skukum Group Upper Becker Creek Cone
Mountain ranges The Saint Elias Mountains are part of the Coast Mountains which range from southern British Columbia to Alaska and cover the southwestern Yukon. While the Saint Elias Mountains contain the highest mountains, there are numerous other mountain ranges, from the British Mountains in the far north and the Richardson Mountains in the northeast, both of which are part of the Brooks Range, to the Selwyn Mountains and Mackenzie Mountains in the east, the Cassiar Mountains in the south-east, the Pelly Mountains in the central Yukon, and the Ogilvie Mountains north of Dawson City and along the Dempster Highway.
Yukon mountain ranges include: Brooks Range (mostly in northern Alaska) British Mountains, Yukon Richardson Mountains, Yukon Cassiar Mountains, British Columbia and Yukon Mackenzie Mountains, Northwest Territories and Yukon Logan Mountains, Yukon Selwyn Mountains, Yukon Hess Mountains, Yukon Nadaleen Range, Yukon Bonnet Plume Range, Yukon Wernecke Mountains Group, Yukon Knorr Range, Yukon Pacific Coast Ranges, Mexico to Alaska Coast Mountains, also in British Columbia and the Alaska Panhandle Saint Elias Mountains, southern Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia Kluane Ranges, Yukon Alsek Ranges, Yukon, British Columbia and Alaska Yukon Ranges Anvil Range Dawson Range Miners Range, Yukon Nisling Range Ogilvie Mountains, Yukon Nahoni Range Pelly Mountains, Yukon Big Salmon Range, Yukon Glenlyon Range Saint Cyr Range Ruby Range, Yukon
Highest mountains +Highest mountains in the YukonMountainHeight (metres)Height (feet)RankMount LoganHighest mountain in CanadaMount Saint Elias#2 in both Canada and the USAMount Lucania#3 in CanadaKing Peak#4 in CanadaMount Steele#5 in CanadaMount Wood#7 in CanadaMount Vancouver#8 in CanadaMount Slaggard#10 in CanadaMount MacaulayMount HubbardMount WalshMount AlverstoneMcArthur PeakMount Augusta
Hydrography
Most of the territory is in the watershed of its namesake, the Yukon River, which flows into the Bering Sea. Southern Yukon is dotted with a large number of large, long and narrow glacier-fed alpine lakes, most of which flow into the Yukon River system. The larger lakes include: Teslin Lake, Atlin Lake, Tagish Lake, Marsh Lake, Lake Laberge, Kusawa Lake, Kluane Lake. Bennett Lake on the Klondike Gold Rush trail is a smaller lake flowing into Tagish Lake.
Other rivers flow either directly into the Pacific Ocean or directly or indirectly into the Arctic Ocean. The Alsek - Tatshenshini drainage flows directly into the Pacific from southwestern Yukon. A number of rivers in northern Yukon flow directly into the Arctic Ocean. The two main Yukon rivers flowing into the Mackenzie River in the Northwest Territories are the Liard River in the southeast and the Peel River and its tributaries in the northeast.
Climate
Most of Yukon has a subarctic climate (Köppen climate classification Dfc), characterized by long cold winters and brief warm summers. The airstrip at Snag, east of Beaver Creek near the Alaska border, experienced the lowest ever temperature measured in North America (outside of Greenland), on 3 February 1947. The Arctic Ocean coast has a polar climate (ET). The climate is generally very dry, with little precipitation, but is considerably wetter in the southeast. Precipitation is much greater in the mountains, and the snow pack continues to melt well into the summer, resulting in high water in July or August.
+Representative climate normalsZoneAverage annual temperatureAverage July temperatureAverage January temperatureAverage snowfallAverage rainfallNorth(Old Crow)Central(Dawson City)South(Whitehorse)Southeast(Watson Lake)
Ecology Except for the coastal plain of the Arctic Ocean and high elevations, most of Yukon is in an ecoregion that forms part of the boreal forest of Canada. Most mountain peaks and higher elevations are characterized by Alpine tundra while the coastal plain is Arctic coastal tundra. More precisely, according to the ecozone definitions used by Environment and Climate Change Canada, southern and central Yukon is part of the Boreal Cordillera Ecozone while the northern forest is part of the Taiga Cordillera Ecozone. The Peel River area in the northeast is in the Taiga Plains Ecozone and the Arctic coast is in the Southern Arctic Ecozone.
Plants Black spruce (Picea mariana), white spruce (Picea glauca), quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides) and balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) are found throughout much of the territory. Although relatively uncommon, the Alaska birch (Betula neoalaskana) is also found in most areas. The lodgepole pine (Pinus contorta) reaches its northern extreme in the south-central part of the territory, while tamarack (Larix laricina) is found in the southeast and the subalpine fir (Abies lasiocarpa, the official tree) is found at higher elevations in the southern part of the territory. Fireweed (Epilobium angustifolium) is the territories official flower.
Animals It is estimated that there are over 200,000 caribou (Rangifer tarandus) in 53 herds throughout Yukon. The barren-ground (Rangifer tarandus groenlandicus or Rangifer tarandus grantii), which includes the 169,000 strong Porcupine caribou herd (Rangifer arcticus arcticus). The woodland caribou (Rangifer tarandus caribou) are boreal woodland and northern mountain caribou as designated by the Committee on the Status of Endangered Wildlife in Canada.
Other large mammals include moose (Alces alces), wolves (Canis lupus), grizzly bears (Ursus arctos horribilis) and American black bears (Ursus americanus). Higher elevations have Dall sheep (also called thinhorn sheep, Ovis dalli) and, in the south, mountain goat (Oreamnos americanus). Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are found on the Arctic coast. The mule deer (Odocoileus hermionus) and its predator, the cougar (Puma concolor), are becoming increasingly common in the south, and coyotes (Canis latrans) are increasing their range to the northern Yukon. Elk (Cervus canadensis) and wood bison (Bison bison athabascae) are also present.
There are many species of rodents, including red squirrels (Sciurus vulgaris), Arctic ground squirrel (Urocitellus parryii), northern flying squirrel (Glaucomys sabrinus), several species of lemmings, collared pikas (Ochotona collaris), North American beavers (Castor canadensis), various species of voles, North American porcupines (Erethizon dorsatum), muskrats (Ondatra zibethicus), etc. Mustelids are also well represented and include the wolverine (Gulo gulo), American marten (Martes americana), stoat (also called the ermine, Mustela erminea), least weasel (Mustela nivalis), American mink (Neogale vison), and the river otter (Lontra canadensis or Lutra canadensis). Other small carnivores present are the Canada lynx (Lynx canadensis), red fox ( Vulpes vulpes) and Arctic fox (Vulpes lagopus) along the northern coast.
More than 250 species of birds have been sighted in Yukon. The common raven (Corvus corax) is the territorial bird and is common everywhere. Other common resident birds include bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus), golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), gyrfalcon (Falco rusticolus) and peregrine falcon (Falco peregrinus), seven species of grouse (spruce (Canachites canadensis), dusky (Dendragapus obscurus), ruffed (Bonasa umbellus), sharp-tailed (Tympanuchus phasianellus), Willow ptarmigan (Lagopus lagopus), Rock ptarmigan (Lagopus muta), and white-tailed ptarmigan (Lagopus leucura)). Many migratory birds breed in the Yukon, as it is at the northern end of the Pacific Flyway.