Manitoba
Manitoba is a province of Canada, spanning 647,797 square kilometres (250,116 sq mi) of North America, and a population of 1,196,291 (2008 estimates).
History
Manitoba is located in Western Canada and borders the U.S. states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south, Nunavut and Hudson Bay to the north, Saskatchewan to the west, and Ontario to the east.
On 15 July 1870, Manitoba became the first province created from the territories. Louis Riel named the new Province "Manitoba," which is related to the Algonquian word "Manitou", meaning 'spirit'. Manitoba, in the Red River Valley region, contained the first western colony and settlement of Canada. Manitoba is the only Canadian Province with an Arctic deep water sea port, located in Churchill, Manitoba, bordering Hudson Bay. Manitoba's sea port is the only link along the shortest shipping route between Canada and Asia.
Its capital and largest city is Winnipeg, with a population of 633,451. The Winnipeg Capital Region's total population as of the 2001 census was 711,455. Other important cities are Brandon, Thompson, Portage la Prairie, Steinbach, Selkirk, and Winkler.
