PROVINCE OF MANITOBA

Manitoba is a province located in the center of Canada, which became part of the Confederation in 1871. Despite being under the authority of the British Crown, and all sorts of obstacles, the French Canadian hunters and colonists were intensively penetrating in Manitoba. The Parliament of Canada declared the province as part of Canada and proclaimed the bilingual education system (Anglo-Protestant and Franco-Catholic). However, despite the agreement, British and English Canadians have unilaterally banned education in French language in 1890, which led to the reduction of Franco – Manitobans in the province. Nevertheless, the Franco-Manitobans still live in the province. They consider French as their native language and still use it in most of daily situations. Franco-Manitoban Culture is mainly concentrated in St. Boniface area in one of the suburbs of Winnipeg. It is also the location for the main university of French Canadians and the only French-language university in the west of the country.

Manitoba borders the Nunavut territory to the north, the province of Ontario to the east, the province of Saskatchewan to the west and the US states Minnesota and North Dakota, to the south. The only tantalum mines in North America are located near the Bernie Lake. Thanks to the mines, the province began to develop. Winnipeg is the main city of the province of Manitoba and the main commercial point of the Canadian Northwest. The city is named for an eponymous lake, located 20 km north of the city. In the language of the Cree Indians, it was called “win nipee”, which can be translated as “dirty water”.

Since 1738, this place was the trading post of Fort Rouge. Winnipeg became a real town in 1812, after the arrival of Scottish settlers. Owing to a good location, as well as the constant flow of people, the population reached 1860 citizens in 1872 and Winnipeg was officially included in the list of Canadian cities. In 1885, the branch of the Canadian Pacific Railway was laid through Winnipeg and the city welcomed the first train from Montreal. The railway gave a new impetus to the development of the city.

In 1972 it was decided to merge the 13 cities and towns in a single city, which led to the fact that at the moment Winnipeg covers an area of 465 km², has more than 633,451 inhabitants and is the sixth most important city in Canada. The economy of the city also goes with the time. Winnipeg is the largest center for crop cultivation in North America, as well as financial, commercial and industrial center of the Midwest.

The infrastructure of the city is very well developed. There are plenty of leasure and recreation areas. For example, not every city in the world can be proud of such parks as the Assiniboine Park with its huge zoo, conservatory and park of sculptures or Kildonan Park, where the most beautiful trees in Canada are growing. The 5-th largest lake in Canada, Lake Winnipeg is located to the north of Winnipeg. A lovely place of wildlife is the Riding Mountain National Park, covering 3,000 square kilometers.

Climate in Manitoba is severe and very similar to the climate of the southern part of Western Siberia. The northernmost point of the province of Manitoba is the town of Churchill. It is a former North outpost of the Hudson’s Bay Company. The town is called the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”, as every year 150 migrating polar bears pass through the town, in the period from September to early November.