While speaking to the Inuit girl Mr. Goodsir mentions to her that he was told the Inuit call the land they are in Nunavut. The native residents of the area have referred to the northern areas of Canada as Nunavut for centuries, likely millennia, though since 1870 that area was called the Northwest Territories by the government of Canada. In 1999 the Northwest Territories were divided, with the northeastern parts being renamed Nunavut in honor of the native Inuits long standing claim to the land. Nunavut is now the largest territory in Canada being 1,750,000 km2 (680,000 sq mi) in area, making roughly the same size as Mexico, though it is one of the most remote and sparsely populated areas in the world with a population of only 35,944 according to the 2016 census.