Manitoba is a province of Canada at the longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada’s fifth-most populous province, with a population of 1,278,365 as of 2016. The easternmost of the three prairie provinces, Manitoba covers 649,950 square kilometres (250,900 sq mi) of widely varied landscape, from arctic tundra and the Hudson Bay coastline in the north to dense boreal forest, large freshwater lakes, and prairie grassland in the central and southern regions.

Indigenous peoples have inhabited what is now Manitoba for thousands of years. In the early 17th century, British and French fur traders began arriving in the area and establishing settlements.

The Kingdom of England secured control of the region in 1673 and created a territory named Rupert’s Land, which was placed under the administration of the Hudson’s Bay Company.

Rupert’s Land, which included all present-day Manitoba, grew, and evolved from 1673 until 1869 with significant settlements of Indigenous and Métis people in the Red River Colony. In 1869, negotiations with the Government of Canada for the creation of the province of Manitoba commenced.

During the negotiations, several factors led to an armed uprising of the Métis people against the Government of Canada, a conflict known as the Red River Rebellion. The resolution of the conflict and further negotiations led to Manitoba becoming the fifth province to join Canadian Confederation, when the Parliament of Canada passed the Manitoba Act on July 15, 1870.

Manitoba’s capital and largest city is Winnipeg, the seventh most populous municipality in Canada. Winnipeg is the seat of government, home to the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the Provincial Court.

Four of the province’s five universities, all four of its professional sports teams, and most of its cultural activities (including Festival du Voyageur and Folklorama) are in Winnipeg.

The city has train and bus stations and an international airport; a Canadian Forces base, CFB Winnipeg, operates from the airport and is the regional headquarters of the North American Aerospace Defense Command.

CLIMATE

Manitoba has an extreme continental climate. Temperatures and precipitation generally decrease from south to north and increase from east to west. Manitoba is far from the moderating influences of mountain ranges or large bodies of water. Because of the generally flat landscape, it is exposed to cold Arctic high-pressure air masses from the northwest during January and February.

In the summer, air masses sometimes come out of the Southern United States, as warm humid air is drawn northward from the Gulf of Mexico. Temperatures exceed 30 °C (86 °F) numerous times each summer, and the combination of heat and humidity can bring the humidex value to the mid-40s. Carman, Manitoba, recorded the second-highest humidex ever in Canada in 2007, with 53.0.

According to Environment Canada, Manitoba ranked first for clearest skies year-round and ranked second for clearest skies in the summer and for the sunniest province in the winter and spring.

Southern Manitoba (including the city of Winnipeg) falls into the humid continental climate zone). This area is cold and windy in the winter and often has blizzards because of the open landscape. Summers are warm with a moderate length.

This region is the most humid area in the prairie provinces, with moderate precipitation. Southwestern Manitoba, though under the same climate classification as the rest of Southern Manitoba, is closer to the semi-arid interior of Palliser’s Triangle. The area is drier and more prone to droughts than other parts of southern Manitoba.

This area is cold and windy in the winter and has frequent blizzards due to the openness of the Canadian Prairie landscape. Summers are generally warm to hot, with low to moderate humidity.

Southern parts of the province, just north of Tornado Alley, experience tornadoes, with 16 confirmed touchdowns in 2016. In 2007, on 22 and 23 June, numerous tornadoes touched down, the largest an F5 tornado that devastated parts of Elie (the strongest recorded tornado in Canada).

The province’s northern sections (including the city of Thompson) fall in the subarctic climate zone. This region features long and extremely cold winters and brief, warm summers with little precipitation. Overnight temperatures as low as −40 °C (−40 °F) occur on several days each winter.