Welcome to Winnipeg!
Winnipeg is Manitoba's capital and largest city, and stands midway on the Trans-Canada Highway and railway. With 705,000 inhabitants (2016), The Peg dominates the Canadian Prairies and is as diverse as the majority of Canada.
Winnipeg is a "gateway to the West", and can be visited for its architecture, museums, and its broad retail market. Among major attractions are the Royal Canadian Mint, St Boniface Cathedral, and the Canadian Museum for Human Rights. Winnipeg is off the tourist trail for most visitors to Canada, but the visitor will experience an authentic and friendly Canadian Prairie city which leaves many pleasantly surprised.
Winnipeg is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America.
The city is named after the nearby Lake Winnipeg, the name comes from the Western Cree words for muddy water. The region was a trading centre for Indigenous peoples long before the arrival of Europeans, it is the traditional territory of the Anishinabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and is the birthplace of the Métis Nation. French traders built the first fort on the site in 1738. A settlement was later founded by the Selkirk settlers of the Red River Colony in 1812, the nucleus of which was incorporated as the City of Winnipeg in 1873. As of 2016, Winnipeg is the seventh most populated municipality in Canada, with a resident population of about 778,500. Being far inland, the local climate is extremely seasonal even by Canadian standards with average January highs of around −11 °C (12 °F) and average July highs of 26 °C (79 °F).
Known as the "Gateway to the West", Winnipeg is a railway and transportation hub with a diversified economy. This multicultural city hosts numerous annual festivals, including the Festival du Voyageur, the Winnipeg Folk Festival, the Jazz Winnipeg Festival, the Winnipeg Fringe Theatre Festival, and Folklorama. In 1967, Winnipeg was the first Canadian host of the Pan American Games. It is home to several professional sports franchises, including the Winnipeg Blue Bombers (Canadian football), the Winnipeg Jets (ice hockey), Manitoba Moose (ice hockey), Valour FC (soccer), and the Winnipeg Goldeyes (baseball).