Discover our Diversity

Touring Manitoba's Regions, Cities and Towns

Although considered one of Canada’s three Prairie Provinces, Manitoba is actually a marine province with over 100,000 lakes, 645 kilometres of coastline and thousands of kilometres of rivers.  The rugged, ancient rocks of the Canadian Shield cover almost three quarters of the province.  Discover the diverse histories and cultures of Manitoba’s eight urban, rural and northern regions and the distinctive landforms and waterways that have shaped their identities, from the earliest settlement patterns of Aboriginal peoples to the more recent waves of urban and multicultural migration.

In the south, urban and agricultural communities are clustered into the Central Plains, Westman, Pembina Valley, and Capital regions.  The Eastman region is agricultural in the south, then transforms northward into rugged woodlands, lakes and Shield rock.  In Manitoba’s heartland, two giant bodies of water define the Interlake region – Lake Winnipeg, the world’s 17th largest freshwater lake, and its sister, Lake Manitoba, are the remnants of the giant prehistoric Lake Agassiz which once covered two-thirds of the province with glacial ice.  Further to the west, along the ancient escarpment which marked the coastline of Lake Agassiz, the Parkland region rises up in woodlands and forests.  Manitoba’s Northern Region covers over half the province with forests and tundra, populated by small, far-flung communities prizing independence, endurance and respect for the land and for the power and beauty of Nature – mining, forestry and hydro-electric development exist alongside traditional hunting, fishing and trapping.

Take an on-line tour of Manitoba’s cities and towns.