Северная Манитоба: География, экономика и население

Region of Manitoba, Canada

Northern Manitoba (also known as NorMan or Nor Man) is a geographic and cultural region of the Canadian province of Manitoba. Originally encompassing a small square around the Red River Colony, the province was extended north to the 60th parallel in 1912. The region's specific boundaries vary, as "northern" communities are considered to share certain social and geographic characteristics, regardless of latitude.

Manitoba's northern region is mostly within the subarctic climate zone (Köppen climate classification Dfc). It also has some Humid Continental (Koppen Dfb) areas in the south. This region features long and extremely cold winters and brief, warm summers with little precipitation.

This region is covered by large extents of stunted Black Spruce dominant forest, with association of Tamarack. There are several mammals in the region including the Arctic fox, Beluga whale and Polar bear. The Polar bear has a significant denning area within the Wapusk National Park, from which annual bear migrations to Hudson Bay are made.

The major economic activities are mining and tourism.

The region is composed of four census divisions: 19 and 21–23. Its total population according to the 2016 Census of population was 89,637, 7.0% of Manitoba's total population. The largest municipality is the city of Thompson. Other major population centres include the city of Flin Flon and the town of The 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 are Norway House 17 and Peguis 1B.

Northern Manitoba is accessed by two Provincial Trunk Highways: PTH 10 to Flin Flon and PTH 6 to Thompson, as well as a network of smaller roads. These are extended in the winter by an additional network of winter roads. Northern Manitoba is served by a single rail line running north from Winnipeg, via eastern Saskatchewan. The Canadian National Railway operates the line as far as The Pas. At The Pas, the line splits into branches. The Keewatin Railway Company owns the branch connecting The Pas to Pukatawagan, while the Hudson Bay Railway operates a cargo only branch to Flin Flon and a mixed use branch connecting to Churchill. 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 its Winnipeg–Churchill service. Air transport provides access to many northern communities with 58 airfields in the region. Calm Air and Perimeter Aviation provide scheduled passenger service into larger northern communities. Chartered bush planes land on lakes when airfields are not available.