The Yukon River is a major watercourse of northwestern North America, flowing 3,190 kilometers from British Columbia, through the Yukon Territory in Canada, and across Alaska to the Bering Sea. It is famous for the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899), when thousands of prospectors used the river as a main transportation route to reach the gold fields. The river is one of the longest salmon-breeding rivers in the world, with Chinook salmon traveling over 3,000 kilometers from the ocean to their spawning grounds. The Yukon basin is largely wilderness, home to caribou, grizzly bears, and wolves. The river's name comes from the Gwich'in word 'Yu-kun-ah,' meaning 'great river.' Today, it remains vital for indigenous communities for subsistence fishing and as a seasonal transportation route when it freezes over in winter.