The Land
Bordered by Ontario, Saskatchewan, Nunavut, Hudson Bay and the
United States, Manitoba is one of the three Prairie provinces and
is located in the centre of Canada.
Its 650 000 km2 of landscape offer few
extremes. Elevations rise slowly to the south and west from sea
level at Hudson Bay. Most of Manitoba lies between 150 and 300
metres above sea level, but in the Turtle, Riding, Duck and Baldy
mountains, heights rise to 700 metres or higher. The highest point
in Manitoba is Baldy Mountain, in Duck Mountain Provincial Park,
at 831 metres.
Manitoba is known as the land of 100 000 lakes, a legacy
of enormous Lake Agassiz, which covered much of the province after
the glaciers retreated. The major rivers of western Canada flow
into the lowland region of Manitoba, giving Manitoba 90 percent of
the hydro-electric potential of the Prairie region. The northern
topography is heavily glaciated and covered in forest, dominated
by pine, hemlock and birch.
Manitoba is one of the sunniest provinces in Canada. It has a
continental climate, with great temperature extremes. Typical of
southern Manitoba, the average January temperature in Winnipeg is
about minus 20°C; the July average is about 19°C. In Thompson,
in the centre of northern Manitoba, the averages for the same
months are about minus 27°C and plus 15°C.
The History
The name Manitoba likely comes from the Cree words
"Manitou bou," which mean "the narrows of the Great
Spirit." These words applied to Lake Manitoba, which narrows
to less than a kilometre at its centre. The waves hitting the
loose surface rocks of its north shore produce curious bell-like
and wailing sounds, which the first Aboriginal peoples believed
came from a huge drum beaten by the spirit Manitou.
The Assiniboine Indians were the first inhabitants of Manitoba.
Other First Nations included the nomadic Cree, who followed the
herds of bison and caribou on their seasonal migrations.
In their search for the rich Orient through the Northwest
Passage, Europeans reached Manitoba through Hudson Bay. Unlike
most of the rest of Canada, the northern parts of the province
were explored before the south. In 1612, Captain Thomas Button
wintered two ships at the mouth of the Nelson River, on Hudson
Bay. Later, a party led by La Vérendrye explored the Red and
Winnipeg rivers in the years 1733-38 and built several outposts.
Early European interest in Manitoba centred on the fur trade.
In 1670, the Hudson's Bay Company was created, and King Charles II
of England granted it a large tract of land named Rupert's Land.
The company set up fur-trading posts to exploit the country's
wealth. During the 18th century, intense rivalry for fur-trade
supremacy developed between the Montreal-based North West Company
and the Hudson's Bay Company.
In 1812, the first European agricultural settlement was
established in the area around the junction of the Red and
Assiniboine rivers by Lord Selkirk, a Scottish nobleman who sent a
number of Scottish Highlanders to settle land he had secured from
the Hudson's Bay Company. He called the area Assiniboia. The
Selkirk colony suffered through floods and problems arising from
unfamiliarity with the environment and rivalries within the fur
trade. Nevertheless, the settlement survived.
In 1836, the Selkirk family transferred Assiniboia to the
Hudson's Bay Company. In the late1860s, the Dominion of Canada,
anxious to expand into the great northwest, offered to buy the
land from the Hudson's Bay Company. Negotiations for the transfer
of sovereignty of the Hudson's Bay Company lands to Canada
followed, but with little regard to the wishes of the inhabitants.
During the lengthy negotiations, this lack of consultation and
the movement of American and Canadian settlers into the territory
led the Métis (people of mixed Aboriginal and European blood) to
fear for the preservation of their land rights and culture. The Métis,
under the leadership of Louis Riel, opposed the Canadian proposals
in an insurgency known as the Red River Rebellion. Riel succeeded
in establishing a locally-elected, provisional government in
December 1869. Delegates of this provisional government negotiated
terms with the new federal government of Canada, making Manitoba a
province of the Dominion of Canada on July 15, 1870.
The new "postage stamp" province (so named because of
its square shape and small size) consisted then of 36 000 km2;
surrounding the Red River Valley. However, the province did not
remain that small; its boundaries were expanded in 1881 and again
in 1912.
Bolstered by its central location as the entry point to western
Canada, Manitoba grew quickly during its first 50 years as a
province. With the help of the railway, thousands of settlers from
eastern Canada and from countries all over the world made Manitoba
their home.
The People
Many early settlers in Manitoba were primarily of British or
French origin. But changes in migration and immigration patterns
have produced an ethnically diverse population. Manitoba is home
to dozens of groups from all over the world, who have enriched the
province's economy, culture and society. It boasts a significant
Francophone community.
Although Manitoba is one of the smaller provinces in
population, it is an important centre for a number of ethnic
groups. It is one of the most important centres of Ukrainian
culture outside Ukraine and has one of the largest populations of
Mennonites in the world. More than 128 000 people are of
Aboriginal or Métis origin. There are also many Manitobans of
Icelandic origin.
About 60 percent of Manitoba's nearly 1.15 million people live
in metropolitan Winnipeg, the provincial capital. The
second-largest city is Brandon, in southwestern Manitoba.
The Economy
The early provincial economy was based on agriculture, with
manufacturing and transportation later becoming vital sectors.
Manitoba now has a very diversified economy, but the services
sector is the most important. The central location of the province
makes Manitoba an attractive base for a wide variety of services,
notably in transportation and wholesale distribution.
Manufacturing is the largest goods-producing economic sector.
Food and transportation equipment have long been the leading
manufacturing industries. Other important industries are primary
and fabricated metals, electrical goods, clothing and textiles,
and printing and publishing.
Agriculture is the backbone of rural Manitoba, as well as
supporting thousands of jobs in towns and cities. The strong
balance in the Manitoba economy is reflected in agriculture, where
both crops and livestock are important sectors. Wheat is the most
important crop, accounting for 40 percent of crop production
value, followed by canola and flaxseed. The province is the
leading Canadian producer of flaxseed, sunflower seeds, buckwheat
and field peas.
Mining is another major Manitoba industry, with metals normally
accounting for more than three-quarters of the value of
production. The most important metals are nickel (of which the
province is a world leader in production), copper and zinc.
Manitoba also produces petroleum and a number of industrial
minerals.
Camping grounds, parks, lakes and rivers as well as historic
sites are the principal attractions for Manitoba's visitors.
Tourism also relies on dozens of community festivals, a number of
which have international reputations.
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