Acerca de Manitoba - Colombian Association of Manitoba Inc.

About Manitoba

Welcome to the heart of Canada

Manitoba is one of the ten provinces that, together with the three territories, make up the thirteen federal entities of Canada. Its capital and most populous city is Winnipeg. It is located in the center of the country.

The capital and largest city of Manitoba is Winnipeg, Canada's eighth city in population and home to 60% of the province's inhabitants. Winnipeg is the seat of the provincial government and it contains the Legislative Assembly of Manitoba and the Manitoba Court of Appeal, which is the highest judicial body. Four of Manitoba's five universities, its professional sports teams, and most of the cultural activities are in Winnipeg.

Some curiosities of Winnipeg and Manitoba

Manitoba has more than 2,300 hours of bright sunshine each year.
Winnipeg has held the world title of Slurpee Capital for the past six years, drinking 400,000 of the semi-frozen sodas per month.
The Golden Boy , plated in 24 karat gold, placed at a height of 77 meters (255 feet) in the Manitoba Legislative Building . Sculpted and anchored in France, the statue spent WWI in the hold of a ship, crossed the Atlantic Ocean after the ship was taken over to transport troops.
The Manitoba Legislative Building is an impressive example of classic Beaux-Arts architecture completed in 1920, built from the only Tyndall limestone quarried in Garson, Manitoba.
The name Manitoba is believed to come from the words manitowapow (Cree) or manito bau (Ojibway), which means "directly from the spirit" and refer to to an island in Lake Manitoba Narrows where a manitou or great spirit defeated his battery.
The beaver is the largest rodent in the world and its luxurious fur fueled the 19th century fur trade, leading to exploration and eventual negotiation of Manitoba with Europeans.
At one point in geological history, Manitoba was an alpine province with huge mountain ranges.
Lakes Winnipeg and Manitoba are all that remains of the glacial Lake Agassiz that once covered most of the province.
Churchill, Manitoba, is known as the Polar Bear Capital of the World for being the most accessible place to see polar bears in their own habitat .
There are over 120 public and private Country Golf Clubs in Manitoba , with some of the most scenic found in Hecla, Whiteshell and Riding Mountain National Park .
Comedian Bob Hope played his first game of golf in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg was the first city in Canada to establish a “United Way” charity.
The Harlequin Romance publishing empire began in Winnipeg.
Winnipeg was the world's first city to develop the 911 emergency telephone number.
Souris, Manitoba, is famous for its 177 m (582 ft) free suspension walkway over the Souris River - over 40 meters long and apparently more flexible and elastic than the famous Capilano Swinging the West Coast Bridge .
With its centuries-old banks and warehouse buildings, the Winnipeg Stock Exchange Historic District boasts the largest, best-preserved collection of terra cotta and stone architecture court in North America. Hollywood filmmakers love the area for location of films from those periods , such as the Jesse James films with Brad Pitt.
Winnipegs Union Station was designed by the same architects responsible for New York Grand Central Station.
The Winnipeg Folk Festival , one of the largest outdoor music festivals in North America, becomes Manitoba's Bird Provincial Park attracting a population that increases the population by a third every July. More than 55,000 music lovers from across the continent will gather for this four-day celebration.
Has the second largest alternative theater festival, the Winnipeg Fringe Theater Festival features more than 130 corporate performances in the historic district of swap every summer, for 12 packed days of comedic and histrionic performances. Theater companies come from places like Australia, South Africa, France, Scotland and New York.
Manitoba produces over 25,000 pounds of gold medal , winner of the golden caviar from white fish eggs and exports worldwide.
The Royal Winnipeg Ballet is Canada's oldest and North America's second oldest dance company.
The Winnipeg Art Gallery has the world's largest public collection of contemporary art , including more than 9,000 works of sculpture, prints, and painting textiles .
The first million dollar hockey player was Bobby Hull, the Golden Jet. He played for the Winnipeg Jets of the World Hockey Association in 1972 and received his check at a public celebration at Winnipeg's famous intersection of Portage and Main.
The Assiniboine Forest in Winnipeg is the largest urban nature park in Canada and home to 80 species of birds.
Spruce Provincial Park is home to an ecological rarity in Manitoba - an area of desert known as Spirit Sands with 30-meter sand dunes .
People have been gathering at The Forks in Winnipeg for thousands of years. The famous crossing of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, once a Manitoba meeting place for early peoples and later a bustling fur trading post, is now a popular 21st century attraction.