Northern Manitoba | |
|---|---|
    | |
 Common definitions of Northern Manitoba | |
| Country | Canada |
| Province | Manitoba |
| Largest population centres | Thompson Flin Flon The Pas Norway House Churchill |
Northern Manitoba (also known asNorMan orNor-Man)[1][2][3] is a geographic and culturalregion of theCanadian province ofManitoba. Manitoba originally encompassed only a small square around theRed River Colony, but it was extended north to the60th parallel in 1912, thus acquiring a large northern region.[4][5] The region's specific boundaries vary, as "northern" communities are considered to share certain social and geographic characteristics, regardless of latitude.
There is no universally accepted definition of Northern Manitoba, but the most detailed description is provided by the Manitoba Indigenous and Northern Relations Department:
"Northern Manitoba" means all that part of Manitoba north of the northern boundary of Township 21 that is not included in
(a) a wildlife management area or refuge designated as such underThe Wildlife Act;
(b) a provincial forest designated as such underThe Forest Act;
(c) a provincial park designated as such underThe Provincial Parks Act;
(d) a municipality or local government district; or
(e) any area prescribed by the Lieutenant Governor in Council as not being within northern Manitoba for the purposes of this Act.
— The Northern Affairs Act (2006)[6]
For marketing purposes, Travel Manitoba considers Northern Manitoba to encompass everything north of the53rd parallel.[7] In contrast, the Look North economic development agency defines the North as consisting of Statistics Canada's Census Divisions 19, 21, 22, and 23.[8] There is also a defined territory of responsibility for theNorthern Regional Health Authority, which excludes the town of Churchill.[9]
Northern Manitoba is mostly pristine wilderness, regardless of the exact boundaries used to define it. It is situated on theCanadian Shield and includes the province'sHudson Bay coastline. Forestry, mining and hydro-electric development are significant economic drivers[10] with long-term consequences to the environment in the region.[11] The region has a much higher proportion ofIndigenous people than the rest of the province.
Manitoba's northern region is mostly within thesubarctic climate zone (Köppen climate classificationDfc). It also has someHumid Continental (Koppen Dfb) areas in the south. This region features long and extremely cold winters and brief, warm summers with little precipitation.[12] Overnight temperatures as low as −40 °C (−40 °F) occur on several days each winter.[12]
This region is covered by large extents of stuntedBlack Spruce dominant forest, with association ofTamarack. There are several mammals in the region including theArctic fox,Beluga whale andPolar bear. The Polar bear has a significantdenning area within theWapusk National Park, from which annual bear migrations toHudson Bay are made.[13]
Northern Manitoba includes one national park (Wapusk National Park), a provincial forest (Cormorant Provincial Forest), several ecological reserves, and more than twenty provincial parks.
The provincial parks are as follows:
The major economic activities aremining andtourism.
The region is composed of fourcensus divisions: 19 and 21–23.[31] Its total population according to the2016 Census of population was 89,637, 7.0% of Manitoba's total population.[32] The largest municipality is the city ofThompson. Other major population centres include the city ofFlin Flon and the town ofThe Pas.Indian reserves comprise more than 49% of the region's population. There are 54 reserves with a total population of 40,572. The largest of these areNorway House 17 andPeguis 1B.
The following communities are within the northern Manitoba area:[33]
Northern Manitoba is accessed by two Provincial Trunk Highways:PTH 10 to Flin Flon andPTH 6 to Thompson, as well as a network of smaller roads.[34] These are extended in the winter by an additional network ofwinter roads.[35]
Northern Manitoba is served by a single rail line running north from Winnipeg, via eastern Saskatchewan. TheCanadian National Railway operates the line as far asThe Pas.[36] At The Pas, the line splits into branches. TheKeewatin Railway Company owns the branch connecting The Pas toPukatawagan, while theHudson Bay Railway operates a cargo-only branch toFlin Flon and a mixed-use branch connecting toChurchill. All rail service between The Pas and Churchill was suspended from 2017 to 2018 due to a washout of tracks north of Amery.Via Rail passenger service operates on these lines as part of itsWinnipeg–Churchill service.
Air transport provides access to many northern communities with 58 airfields in the region.[37]Calm Air andPerimeter Aviation provide scheduled passenger service into larger northern communities.[38][39] Charteredbush planes land on lakes when airfields are not available.[40]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)The four census divisions numbered 19, 21, 22 and 23 are generally considered to make up northern Manitoba.
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