Manitoba is located in central Canada. It has been part of Canada since 1870 and has an area of approximately 647,800 km². The capital is probably best known here in Winnipegbe, a cosmopolitan city, which despite everything is still referred to as the “gateway to the prairie”. Winnipeg was already a trading center about 6,000 years ago, thanks mainly to its good location at the confluence of the Assiniboine and Red rivers. Today the area is a popular meeting place for both tourists and locals. A good half of Manitoba’s residents live in Winnipeg. Downtown Winnipeg has some historic buildings, great restaurants, and great museums. This certainly includes the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature. It was opened in 1974 and is a modern natural history museum with a multitude of special features.
Also worth seeing are the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the St. Binface Museum or one of the most beautiful train stations in Canada, the “Union Station” from 1911, also located in Winnipeg.
Manitoba key facts
Land Area: 649,950 sq km, rank 8 of the provinces of Canada (land Area: 548,360 sq km, water Area: 101,593 sq km)
Share of water surface: 15.6%
Population: 1.21 million residents, 5th place in the provinces of Canada (2009, estimate)
Population density: 1.9 residents per square kilometer
Member of the Confederation: July 15, 1870 (5th Province of Canada)
Capital and Largest city: Winnipeg (633,451 residents, 2006, metropolitan area 739,000 residents, 2006)
Highest point: 832 m, Baldy Mountain
Lowest point: 0 m, Hudson Bay
Lieutenant Governor: Philip S. Lee
Prime Minister: Gary Doer
Local time: CET -7 h. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November: CET -6 h.
The time difference to Central Europe in Manitoba is -7 hours in both winter and summer.
Postal abbreviation: MB
Manitoba – Map and Geography
Manitoba is the easternmost of the Canadian Prairie Provinces. It borders on Nunavut to the north, Ontario to the east, the US states of Minnesota and North Dakota to the south, and Saskatchewan to the west.
The total area of the province Manitoba is just under 650,000 square kilometers. The capital of the province is Winnipeg. The different Land forms Manitoba owes the numerous climatic influences to which this province is exposed. So which is the southwest of Manitoba on the border with Saskatchewan and North Dakota by the tremendous heat mostly dry steppe way, while in the northeast location Hudson Bay well below subarctic influence is. The central regions of Manitoba can largely be used for agriculture thanks to the temperate climate. There are also wooded low mountain ranges, extensive river valleys and almost desert-like steppes.
The main area of Manitoba is covered by what is known as the Canadian Shield taken, a very ancient rock plateau that runs along Hudson Bay to Labrador. The plateau, consisting of gneiss and granite, is one of the oldest rocks on earth. This sparsely populated area of the province is covered by sparse vegetation, which mostly consists of coniferous forest and mosses and is hardly developed. The numerous lakes of Manitoba also take up a large area, of which Lake Winnipeg is by far the largest.
Manitoba Landmarks
The Canadian province of Manitoba has a number of different attractions to offer its visitors. You should definitely not miss the Saint Boniface, a cathedral in Winnipeg. The original construction was completed in 1818. But this was destroyed by fire.
It wasn’t until 1968 that the cathedral rebuilt. The characteristic of the sacred building is the facade made of cedar shingles.
You should also see the restored Hudsons Bay Company Fort in Sellkirk. The building dates from the nineteenth century and is still almost in its original condition, including the interior furnishings. Locals also call the building Lower Fort Garry National Historic Site.
Well worth a visit is the Riel House National Historic Site. The building is a French-Canadian log cabin from 1881. It was recently restored and is furnished as it was customary at the time. In the building itself you can learn everything about the history of the Metis in Canada and the Riel family, as the house is the home of the famous Metis leader Louis Riel.
The government building in Winnipeg is worth seeing. It was built in the neoclassical style between 1913 and 1919. The eighty-meter-high dome of the building can be seen from afar.
Like all of Canada, Manitoba also has some natural beauties, these would be the Rinding Mountain Park (area 2973 square kilometers) and the Waspusk. Waspusk is the German term for polar bear. Many protected polar bears live in the park that is named after them. The park covers a large area, including part of the Hudson’s James Lowlands, subarctic regions near Hudson Bay, and tundra landscape.
