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Southern Manitoba | |
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 Interactive map of Southern Manitoba | |
| Country |  Canada |
| Province |  Manitoba |
| Largest population centres | |
| Population (2021) | |
• Total | 1,114,051 |
Southern Manitoba is the southernmost area of theCanadian province ofManitoba. Southern Manitoba encompasses theWinnipeg Metropolitan Region,Westman Region,Central Plains Region,Eastman Region, andPembina Valley Region, as well as the Manitoba portion ofRed River Valley. Holding a population of over one million, seven of the ten cities in Manitoba are located in this area, includingWinnipeg,Brandon,Portage la Prairie,Selkirk,Morden,Winkler, andSteinbach.
Southern Manitoba provides water corridors for theRed,Souris River andAssiniboine River. Natural vegetation ranges fromprairie grassland toaspen, andboreal forest in theWhiteshell Provincial Park in southeast Manitoba. AtSpruce Woods Provincial Park, nearCarberry, Manitoba a remnant of a sandy delta of the Assiniboine River created a rare Canadian desert area with sand dunes and cacti. Manitoba's most fertile farmlands correspond to the rich black soils found along theRed River Valley and southwestern Manitoba.Petroleum fields of theWilliston Basin inNorth Dakota extend into the southwestern part of the province up toVirden, Manitoba.
Southern Manitoba’s economy continues to be recognized as one of the mostdiversified in Canada. Reports byMoody’s Investors Service,Standard and Poor’s,Dominion Bond Rating Service, andCIBC all cite economic diversity as one of the province’s major economic strengths. Diversity provides long-termeconomic stability, and ensures that southern Manitoba firms have access to a variety of supplies and services.
Southern Manitoba's central location in North America makes it a key part of the Mid Continent Trade & Transportation Corridor, connecting to a market of 100 million people. Both theTrans Canada Highway and theYellowhead Highway provide key east-west traffic corridors from southern Manitoba to the neighboring provinces ofSaskatchewan andOntario.Provincial Highways 75 and59 lead one hour south from Winnipeg to link with theU.S. National Highway System viaNorth Dakota andMinnesota, providing key access to the Mid Continent Trade & Transportation Corridor centered onUS Interstate highwaysI-29 andI-35, which connects Canada to a central-North American market of 100 million people. Goods can be shipped by truck and rail from Canada through southern Manitoba toMexico and all points between. The border crossing atEmerson processes over $15 billion in trade traffic annually (2013), more than any other border crossing inWestern Canada, and 5th largest in Canada. An estimated 400,000 commercial trucks crossed the border through Emerson in 2013 to the United States of America. Approximately 65% of Manitoba’s exports toNAFTA partners (U.S. and Mexico) are transported by truck through the Emerson/Pembina crossing in southern Manitoba. Intermodal in nature, the Corridor allows cost-effective and safe movement of goods and people, minimizing both travel costs and time. Manitoba trade with the US Corridor states alone (North Dakota,South Dakota,Minnesota,Iowa,Nebraska,Kansas,Wisconsin,Illinois,Michigan,Indiana,Missouri,Oklahoma andTexas) was $15.7 billion in 2014 (Exports: $5.6 billion, Imports: $10.1 billion).
Provincial parks found in Southern Manitoba include theSt. Malo,Spruce Woods,Whiteshell,Turtle Mountain, andNopiming, as well as severalmunicipal parks and trails. Notable trails in the region are theTrans Canada Trail and Manitoba’s Pine to Prairie International Birding Trail, a northern extension of the Pine to Prairie Birding Trail that was developed in northwestern Minnesota. Southern Manitoba is a premierbirding site for both the novice and experienced birder. Here in the centre of the continent are bird species representative of the north, south, east and western North America.
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