French names are in italics; the year in which each province entered into Confederation is in parentheses.

Provinces:

Territories:

  • The Yukon (1898): From an Amerindian word meaning "big river."
  • The Northwest Territories (Les Territoires du Nord-Ouest) (1920): Pretty self-explanatory. Originally used to mean "the land north and west of Ontario."
  • Nunavut (1999): From the Inuktut word meaning "our land."

See also Origins of country names and Origins of state names, which gave me the inspiration for this node...

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