Manitoba is one of the provinces of Canada. Winnipeg leads her city. It is located in the heart of the country, in an area called the Canadian Prairies. This is a vast plain, in the territory of which there are more than one hundred thousand natural reservoirs.
The region is dominated by a sharply continental and partly arctic climate, which is characterized by extremely frosty winters and hot summers. The population of Manitoba is more than a million people. The main industry of the province is agriculture. There are mining enterprises, forestries, furniture industry.
Geography and Terrain
The closest neighbors of the region are Saskatchewan in the west, Ontario in the east, Nunavut in the north. Its southern tip borders immediately on two states of the USA. These are Minnesota and North Dakota. Hudson Bay (Canada) washes the province's land in the northeast with its icy waters. In some places, flat terrain is replaced by rocky sections and hills. The highest point is Boldi Peak. In addition to it there are mountain complexes Pembin, Riding and the Canadian shield. The latter is famous for its abundance of mineral deposits.
Lakes occupy more than 15% of the total area of the region. Winnipeg and Winnipegosis are their largest representatives. The Red River is the most important waterway in central Canada. Manitoba stretched along its full-flowing channel. A few tens of kilometers from it are the beds of the rivers Hayes, Nelson, Churchill and Whiteshell.
Administrative center
The capital of Manitoba is the city of Winnipeg. The number of its inhabitants exceeded 600,000. It owes its name to the nearby lake of the same name. If you look at the geographical map of North America, the metropolis is located in the middle of the mainland. The Red River divides the village into two parts. During the colonial era, the English left occupied the left bank, and the French occupied the right.
Modern Winnipeg is served by a developed road network. There is an international airport. The annual turnover of the passenger flow of air gates exceeds three million people. Vancouver, Ottawa, Toronto, Calgary and Montreal - all these are Canada, Manitoba is connected with them by regular flights. From the platforms of the railway station, trains leave for the eastern and western parts of the country.
Winnipeg Neighborhoods
Of greatest interest to tourists are the streets of the old quarter of Forks. For millennia, it served as a meeting place and trade, first to Indian tribes, and then to the colonialists. The first product of the Europeans was furs, later at the mouth of the Red River began to hunt with grain. In Forks there are stone embankments, ancient parks, and on weekends a noisy and many-voiced fair opens its doors.
Iskchenge - the personification of the Victorian era, like all of Canada, Manitoba was built up and developed under the vigilant guidance of overseas architects. The shopping district is the home of financiers, dealers and merchants. Its skyscrapers arrogantly rise above the palace buildings erected in the middle of the XVIII century.
Fort Harry is another historic quarter of the provincial capital. In the 19th century, it replaced an old defensive structure, the remains of which are thirty kilometers away from the city of Winnipeg (Canada).
Architectural component
The central part of the metropolis is a pile of cubic forms. All streets, buildings and squares are square. Many buildings are interconnected by spacious pendant transitions made of glass and transparent plastic.
Such structures are typical of the country. They are designed for the convenience of ordinary citizens who do not have to leave a warm room to move from one office to another. This approach can be traced in everything, because this is real Canada. Manitoba was no exception in this regard.
Shopping centers of the metropolis are hidden underground. Under the soil are hidden car parkings and warehouses. Due to the abundance of corridors, branches and passages, together they form a labyrinth that lives its own life.
Province history
The first people came to the area of Winnipeg (Canada) immediately after the end of the Ice Age. Frozen blocks left these edges more than ten millennia ago. The ancestors of the Indians of Manitoba were the tribes of the Atabask, Sioux, Ojibwe, Assiniboins and Cree. Steel fields were cultivated in the meadows near the Red River. They grew corn and cereals.
At the beginning of the XVII century, a foreign ship moored off the coast of the province, the crew of which explored the surroundings of Lake Winnipeg. The study of the Hudson's Bay took place in 1669 by the sailors of the Nonsuch ship. Twenty years later, British subjects were partially driven back by French settlers. The whole end of the 19th century was marked by bloody skirmishes of white colonizers with mestizos. In 1912, entering the Canadian Confederation, Manitoba Province reached its current size.
Weather
The maximum rainfall is in the east. The southernmost are considered the snowiest areas. These parts of the country are almost completely open for unhindered entry of cold air masses coming from the Arctic. It is especially windy here in mid-January and February. Summer temperatures reach 30 ° C.
The region has a sharply continental climate. Manitoba (Canada) regularly suffers from the devastating tornadoes that occur in these parts every year. The most powerful tornado was recorded by meteorologists in 2007. Then several districts of Eli were partially destroyed at once.
Ecology
A special government program has been introduced in the province, under which municipal services, along with ordinary residents, plant one million trees annually. The plan to increase the area of green spaces is designed for five years. It includes, without exception, all settlements, including the city of Winnipeg (Canada).
Most of the plains of the region are covered with coniferous forests, which own almost half of all land. Wetlands are found here and there. In the Hudson Bay area there is a section of the tundra. Churchill is famous for its large populations of polar bear, wolf and deer. In ponds there are pike and trout. In the national parks of the province, there are 145 species of birds. Among them are the peregrine falcon and owl.
Time Zones
Time in Canada is regulated by six belts. The difference between Moscow and Newfoundland during the winter months is 6.5 hours, with Manitoba - 9. UTC -5 operates in Ontario, UTC -7 in Alberta, and UTC -8 in Yukon. The hands of the clock in the country are translated twice. The first time this happens on the last Sunday of March, and the second - in November. During this period, the difference with Moscow is reduced. Time in Canada runs one hour ahead.
sights
Familiarity with the province is recommended to start within the walls of the Manitoba Museum, which is located in the Winnipeg Shopping District. Its expositions occupy nine galleries. And under the same roof with him is the existing planetarium. The pride of the institution is an exact replica of the Nonsuch colonial ship.
Art lovers will love a trip to the Art Gallery. A few blocks away you can see the Confederation Building. This is the first high-rise structure that appeared on the local land. It consists of eleven floors. Its height is 41 meters.
The favorite vacation spot of citizens is Assiniboin Square. The park is inhabited not only by wild birds and small forest animals, but also deer. One of the symbols of Winnipeg is the channel of the Red River channel, which was commissioned in 1969.
Not far from the capital, the Stony Mountain ski resort opens its gates every winter. It has six tracks that are serviced by a pair of lifts.
Connection with the outside world
Two large railways run through the region. Their total length exceeds 2,400 kilometers. In Winnipeg, there is a passenger station and two multitransport hubs. The international airport of the administrative center operates around the clock, which is a rarity in Canada. Churchill has a deep sea port. Ships mooring from North America and Asia moor to its berth. Annually, 600 thousand tons of agricultural products pass through its terminals.