Northern Manitoba (also known as NorMan or Nor-Man) is a geographic and cultural
region
In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...
of the
Canadian province of
Manitoba
Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...
. 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.
Geography
Different bodies of the
Government of Manitoba provide different definitions of Northern Manitoba. The most detailed description is set out by Manitoba Indigenous and Northern Relations:
For marketing purposes, Travel Manitoba considers Northern Manitoba to encompass everything north of the
53rd parallel.
In contrast, the Look North economic development agency defines the North as consisting of Statistics Canada's Census Divisions 19, 21, 22, and 23.
There is also a defined territory of responsibility for the
Northern Regional Health Authority, which excludes the town of Churchill.
Regardless of extent, the vast majority of Northern Manitoba is undeveloped wilderness. It is situated on the
Canadian Shield and includes the province's
Hudson Bay coastline. Forestry, mining and hydro-electric development are significant economic drivers with long-term consequences to the environment in the region. The
Indigenous population is significantly higher than in the rest of Manitoba.
Climate
Manitoba's northern region is mostly within in the
subarctic climate
The subarctic climate (also called subpolar climate, or boreal climate) is a climate with long, cold (often very cold) winters, and short, warm to cool summers. It is found on large landmasses, often away from the moderating effects of an ocean, g ...
zone (
Köppen climate classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...
''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.
Overnight temperatures as low as occur on several days each winter.
Ecology
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
The beluga whale () (''Delphinapterus leucas'') is an Arctic and sub-Arctic cetacean. It is one of two members of the family Monodontidae, along with the narwhal, and the only member of the genus ''Delphinapterus''. It is also known as the ...
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.
Protected areas
A single national park,
Wapusk National Park; a provincial forest,
Cormorant Provincial Forest; several ecological reserves; and more than twenty provincial Parks are located in Northern Manitoba.
*
Zed Lake Provincial Park and
Burge Lake Provincial Park are located near the town of Lynn Lake.
*
Caribou River Provincial Park 59.5636°N 96.6611°W
*
Clearwater Lake Provincial Park
Clearwater Lake Provincial Park was designated a provincial park by the Government of Manitoba in 1963. The park is in size. The park is considered to be a Class II protected area under the IUCN protected area management categories.
See also
*L ...
54.08305°N 101.078333°W
*
Grass River Provincial Park
Grass River Provincial Park is a 2,279 km2 provincial park in Northwestern Manitoba, Canada. Designated in 1963, the park is approximately 75 km north of The Pas and is centered on the Grass River. The southern part of the park inclu ...
54.6664°N 100.831°W
*Little Limestone Lake Provincial Park
*North Steeprock Lake Provincial Park
*Nueltin Lake Provincial Park
*
Numaykoos Lake Provincial Park 57.865277777778°N 95.963333333333°W
*
Sand Lakes Provincial Park 57.84222°N 98.53°W
*
Colvin Lake Provincial Park
*
Paint Lake Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Bakers Narrows Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Bell Lake Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Grand Rapids Provincial Park is located at
*
Neso Lake Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Overflowing River Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Pisew Falls Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Red Deer River Provincial Park
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a second ...
The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Rocky Lake Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Sasagiu Rapids Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Twin Lakes Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
*
Wekusko Falls Provincial Park The park is
in size. It is located at
Economy
The major economic activities are
mining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the Earth, usually from an ore body, lode, vein, seam, reef, or placer deposit. The exploitation of these deposits for raw material is based on the econom ...
and
tourism
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring (disambiguation), touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tour (disambiguation), tours. Th ...
.
Demographics
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
Thompson may refer to:
People
* Thompson (surname)
* Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician
Places Australia
*Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality
Bulgaria
* Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province
Canada ...
. 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.
Communities
The following communities are within the northern Manitoba:
*
Leaf Rapids
*
Lynn Lake
*
Mystery Lake
*
Snow Lake
*
South Indian Lake
South Indian Lake is an Indian settlement located on the southeast shore of Southern Indian Lake in northern Manitoba, Canada, about north of the city of Thompson by air. It had a population of 981 in 2016, and is the main settlement of the O-P ...
*
The Pas
*
Thompson
Thompson may refer to:
People
* Thompson (surname)
* Thompson M. Scoon (1888–1953), New York politician
Places Australia
*Thompson Beach, South Australia, a locality
Bulgaria
* Thompson, Bulgaria, a village in Sofia Province
Canada ...
Infrastructure
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
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1 ...
. 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.
See also
*
First Nations in the Northern Region of Manitoba
*
Nelson River Hydroelectric Project
*
Southern Manitoba
References
External links
*
{{Coord, 55, 10, N, 95, 30, W, region:CA-MB_scale:5000000, display=title
Geographic regions of Manitoba