Where is Manitoba located?

Manitoba , one of Canada's Prairie Provinces, is situated midway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is bordered by Nunavut territory to the north, Hudson Bay to the northeast, Ontario to the east, the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota to the south, and Saskatchewan to the west. Winnipeg is Manitoba’s capital and largest city. Manitoba has over 100,000 lakes, including Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest freshwater bodies. More than two-fifths of its land is forested.

What is the capital city of Manitoba?

The capital of the province of Manitoba , Canada, is Winnipeg . Winnipeg is the economic and cultural center of Manitoba, situated at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. Winnipeg is at the heart of the most populous metropolitan area in central Canada. Winnipeg's name comes from the Cree words win nipee , meaning "muddy water," which is also the name of Lake Winnipeg.

What is the climate like in Manitoba?

Manitoba has a moderately dry climate with significant seasonal temperature variations. Winter temperatures can reach approximately -40°F (-40°C) in any area, while summer temperatures can reach 100°F (38°C) in the southern regions. Winnipeg's average daily temperatures range from 9°F (-13°C) in January to 80°F (27°C) in July. Annual precipitation ranges from 14 inches (360 mm) in the north to 22 inches (560 mm) in the southeast, with about two-thirds falling between May and September. Snow typically blankets the ground from November to April in the south, and for even longer periods in the north.

What are some important natural features of Manitoba?

Manitoba's natural features include the Manitoba Lowland, which holds remnants of glacial Lake Agassiz, such as Lake Winnipeg , Lake Winnipegosis , and Lake Manitoba . The Red River of the North and the Assiniboine River drain into Lake Winnipeg, and the ancient Canadian Shield, with its rocks, forests and rivers, covers three-fifths of Manitoba. The Nelson and Churchill rivers drain into Hudson Bay. The Manitoba Escarpment includes the Riding, Duck, and Porcupine mountains, with Baldy Mountain as its highest point.

What groups of people live in Manitoba?

Manitoba is home to diverse groups, including the Assiniboin, Ojibwa, Cree, and Chipewyan First Nations, and Inuit on the Hudson Bay coast. The Métis, of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry, have a unique plains culture. Early European settlers included Scottish farmers, Icelanders, and German-speaking Mennonites. After 1896, immigrants arrived from eastern Europe. Today, while over two-fifths of the population is of British descent, significant ethnic minorities include German, Ukrainian, French, South Asian, Italian, Filipino, Vietnamese, and Polish communities. Manitoba is known for preserving minority languages, reflecting its varied cultural life shaped by European, Asian, and Indigenous traditions.

How does Manitoba contribute to Canada’s economy?

Manitoba contributes to Canada's economy through diverse sectors. Manufacturing has surpassed agriculture, focusing on resource processing such as meatpacking and lumber production, supplemented by technology industries in aeronautical systems and computers. Agriculture remains vital, with wheat as the main crop alongside livestock and market gardening. Mining of nickel, copper, gold, and zinc is crucial, and the province harnesses hydroelectric power from its extensive river network, exporting a portion of the generated power. Its central location makes it a transportation hub, with major highways and a key airport in Winnipeg.

Manitoba

Images

Map of Manitoba, Canada, showing provincial and international boundaries along with major cities and towns. Winnipeg, marked with a special symbol, is identified as the provincial capital. The map includes neighboring provinces Saskatchewan and Ontario, the territory of Nunavut to the north, and borders with North Dakota and Minnesota in the United States to the south. Major lakes, rivers, and Hudson Bay are also depicted.

Map of North America highlighting the province of Manitoba in central Canada, with major cities Winnipeg and Ottawa labeled, and surrounding countries and bodies of water shown for geographic context.

Physical map of Manitoba, Canada, showing major lakes such as Lake Winnipeg, Lake Manitoba, and Lake Winnipegosis, key rivers, provincial boundaries with Saskatchewan and Ontario, and the northern coastline along Hudson Bay. The map highlights natural features and parks, with an inset locator map indicating Manitoba's position within Canada.

At a Glance

Manitoba summary

Manitoba

province, Canada

Written by

Peter McLintockAll

Fact-checked by

Britannica Editors

Last updated

Nov. 13, 2026 •History

News •

Construction breaks ground for permanent dikes to mitigate flooding in First Nation in Manitoba's Interlake • Nov. 12, 2026, 5:00 AM ET (CBC)

Ukrainian war veteran from Manitoba's Interlake walks the walk in fundraising campaign • Nov. 11, 2026, 5:00 AM ET (CBC)

Where to commemorate Remembrance Day in Manitoba • Nov. 10, 2026, 7:31 PM ET (CBC)

Millions of litres of untreated sewage discharged into Red River after gate failure • Nov. 9, 2026, 5:00 AM ET (CTV News)

Southern Chiefs' Organization holds annual veterans summit in Winnipeg ahead of Indigenous Veterans Day • Nov. 7, 2026, 5:00 PM ET (CBC)

Manitoba, province of Canada, one of the Prairie Provinces, lying midway between the Atlantic and the Pacific oceans. The province is bounded to the north by Nunavut territory, to the northeast by Hudson Bay, to the east by Ontario, to the south by the U.S. states of Minnesota and North Dakota, and to the west by Saskatchewan. Manitoba contains more than 100,000 lakes, including Lake Winnipeg, one of the world’s largest inland bodies of fresh water. More than two-fifths of the province’s land area is forested. Winnipeg, Manitoba’s largest city, is the capital. The province’s name comes from a Cree word meaning “the narrows of the Great Spirit,” in reference to Lake Manitoba, which narrows at its centre.

Manitoba became Canada’s fifth province when the area that had been the Red River Settlement was admitted to the confederation in 1870. The present-day province straddles the boundary between the Prairie and Central Canada, and it has both a large agricultural sector and a topography similar to those of the provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta. It also has a mixed economy, an urban orientation, and a multiethnic character, all of which are more like Ontario than the Prairie West. While other areas of the Canadian West have experienced economic cycles of boom and bust, Manitoba has maintained a steadier pace. Similarly, the province’s political and cultural life has largely avoided the extremes that tend to characterize western Canadian society. Area 250,116 square miles (647,797 square km), of which about one-sixth is inland water. Pop. (2021) 1,342,153; (2025 est.) 1,509,702.

Quick Facts

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See article: flag of Manitoba

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Seal of Manitoba

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official flower of Manitoba

Capital:: Winnipeg

Population:: (2021) 1,342,153; (2025 est.) 1,509,702

Date Of Admission:: 1870

Provincial Motto:: “Glorious and Free”

Provincial Flower:: prairie crocus

Land

Relief, drainage, and soils

Extreme southern Manitoba is part of the Saskatchewan plain, a land of rich, level prairies and rolling pastures. The Manitoba Lowland to the north is the basin that once held glacial Lake Agassiz, remnants of which include Lake Winnipeg (9,416 square miles [24,387 square km]), Lake Winnipegosis (2,075 square miles [5,374 square km]), and Lake Manitoba (1,785 square miles [4,623 square km]). Upland plateaus, wooded river valleys, limestone outcrops, forests, and swamps mark the area that is drained by the Red River of the North and the Assiniboine River into Lake Winnipeg. Much of this river region is a natural floodplain, which has often been inundated. Modern flood-control measures (particularly the Red River Floodway and the Portage Diversion) have mitigated the problem.

To the north and east of the lowland is the geologically ancient Canadian Shield, an area of rocks, forests, and rivers. It covers about three-fifths of the province and is drained by the Nelson and Churchill rivers into Hudson Bay. The Hudson Bay Lowland extends roughly 100 miles (160 km) inland as a flat plain of tundra and boglike muskeg. Manitoba’s Western Upland is on the Saskatchewan border. The Riding, Duck, and Porcupine mountains form the Manitoba Escarpment, the highest point of which is Baldy Mountain at 2,727 feet (831 metres). Soil conditions change from south to north. In the fertile zone, south and west of Lake Winnipeg, black soils suitable for farming dominate, although there are occasional large sandy areas. North of this region, lower-quality black soil and gray wooded soils are found. Soil in the shield, generally not suitable for agriculture, is characterized as gray wooded, podzol, and peat.

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Climate

Manitoba has a moderately dry climate with sharp seasonal temperature changes. Winter temperatures of about −40 °F (−40 °C) may occasionally occur in any part of the province, and summer days of 100 °F (38 °C) are not unusual in the southern regions. Average daily temperatures in Winnipeg range from 9 °F (−13 °C) in January to 80 °F (27 °C) in July. Average lows vary from −9 °F (−23 °C) in January to 57 °F (14 °C) in July. Annual precipitation varies from 14 inches (360 mm) in the north to 22 inches (560 mm) in the southeast, with about two-thirds of it falling between May and September. Snow typically covers the ground from November to April in the south and even longer in the north.

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Plant and animal life

The southern part of the province was once covered by open grasslands, most of which have been converted into farmland. The southern plains are relatively treeless, except for the river valleys, where stands of aspen, oak, willow, and poplar are common. Manitoba’s more than 148,000 square miles (383,000 square km) of forest include open parklands of ash, Manitoba maple, elm, and oak in the south, becoming a mixed broad-leaved and coniferous forest to the north and west and a true northern coniferous forest in the higher elevations. Trees in the north include white and black spruce, jack pine, aspen, white birch, and tamarack. The Hudson Bay lowlands have willow and spruce, as well as moss, lichens, and sedges.

Caribou, Arctic foxes, martens, wolves, otters, lynx, red squirrels, and mink live in the northern forests; deer, moose, cougars, elk, black bears, beavers, weasels, raccoons, red foxes, coyotes, and muskrats inhabit the more southerly areas. Polar bears roam along Hudson Bay. Grouse, prairie chickens, and other game birds live in the uplands, and millions of geese and ducks breed in Manitoba’s sloughs and ponds. Fish include bass, pickerel, sauger, pike, trout, and whitefish. Beluga whales inhabit Hudson Bay.

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Manitoba

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Land

Relief, drainage, and soils

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Climate

Plant and animal life