Yellowknife and its surrounding water bodies were named after a local Dene tribe, who were known as the “Copper Indians” or “Yellowknife Indians”, today incorporated as the Yellowknives Dene First Nation.
It is on the northern shore of Great Slave Lake, about 400 km (250 mi) south of the Arctic Circle, on the west side of Yellowknife Bay near the outlet of the Yellowknife River.
Of the eleven official languages of the Northwest Territories, five are spoken in significant numbers in Yellowknife Dene Suline, Dogrib, South and North Slavey, English, and French.
