About Manitoba
Manitoba is a Canadian prairie province with an area of 647,798 square kms. Its population is 1,207,960 with half of its people located in the Capital Region of Winnipeg. Winnipeg is the capital and the largest city of Manitoba province. Other major cities of the province are Thompson, Brandon, Steinbach, Windler, Selkirk and Portage la Praire.
Geography
Located in Canada’s western part, Manitoba has borders with Saskatchewan in the west, Ontario in the east, Hudson Bay and Nanavut in the north and U.S states of Minnesota and North Dakota to the south. This province has the world’s tenth largest fresh water lake, the Lake Winnipeg. The other two large lakes of the region are, Lake Winnipegosis and Lake Manitoba. A number of uninhabited islands are present along the Lake Winnipeg’s eastern shore. Important watercourses in the region include the Assiniboine, Red, Winnipeg, Nelson, Whiteshell, Churchill Rivers and Hayes. The Red River Valley region of the province is quite flat. Also, the province has many rocky and hilly areas and many large sand ridges. The highest point in the region is Baldy Mountain which is 832 meters above sea level, and the Hudson Bay Coast is its lowest region.
History
A first person of Europe to sail to the region, now known as Manitoba was Henry Hudson in 1611. The first voyage of trading came to Hudson Bay, between 1868-1869 and formed the Hudson’s Bay Company. During 1690 to 1691, the European fur trader, Henry Kelsey was first to see the prairie grasslands and the Plains tribes in Manitoba. In 1730, Sieur de la Verendrye and Pierre Gauttier de Varinnes visited the valley of Red River and opened the Area for fur trade and French exploration. In 1870, after the negotiation between the Canadian government and the provisional government, the Manitoba province was created and it entered the Confederation in 1870. The Manitoba province was originally only 1/18 of the current size. But later, it progressively grew by absorbing land from Northwest Territories until reaching its current size in the year 1912.
Economy
Manitoba’s economy is heavily depended on tourism, agriculture, energy, oil, mining, minerals, forestry, etc. Agriculture is found in the province’s southern half and is vital to the economy. Manitoba is the country’s largest producer of dry beans and sunflower seeds and also a leading producer of potato. Around 12% of the country’s farmland is present in this province. The Portage La Prairie city is North America’s potato processing capital. This place has the potato processing plants of Simplot and MaCain Foods and they provide French fries to Wendy’s, McDonalds and various other commercial restaurant chains. Also situated in this place is ‘Can-Oat milling’ which is one of the world’s largest oat mills.
Tourist Attractions
Manitoba has many attractions for the tourists. Some of the popular attractions include, the Manitoba Legislative Building, The Manitoba Theatre for Young People, Manitoba Children’s Museum, Johnston Terminal, Assiniboine Zoo, Praire Gallery, Royal Canadian Mint, the Manitoba Museum, the Stoneware Gallery, Western Canada Aviation, the McPhillips Street Station Casino, etc.
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