Located at the head of Frobisher Bay, this town (1980) was established in 1949 as Frobisher Bay, when the Hudson’s Bay Company moved its post here from a site 70 km southeast. It became a municipal hamlet in 1971 and a village three years later. In December 1984 its residents voted 310 to 213 to rename the place Iqaluit, meaning “place of fish” in Inuktitut.
Source: Rayburn, Alan (1997): Dictionary of Canadian Place Names, Oxford University Press, Toronto, p. 178.
Nunavut is a large section of the former NW Territories (the more eastern part) that was split off and, IIRC, is a relatively autonomous territory for the native peoples found in the area. But I’m sure a Canadian could explain better.
I certainly had a strong reaction to that second link, but I’m not entirely sure whether it was “OMG, that’s pretty cool” or “what the F were they thinking”. But based on the maps at atlas.gc.ca it looks like the “leftover” area is still officially just “Northwest Territories”. Right? RIGHT?!?
Because if I could ever use “Bob” as my answer to what state/province I live in, I’d move. How’s Canada’s immigration policy?