SASKATCHEWAN INFORMATION
Land and Resources |
Physical Geography |
Rivers and Lakes |
Climate |
Plants and Animals |
Population |
Cultural Institutions |
Historical Sites |
Sports and Recreation |
Fishing |
Tourism |
Transportation |
History |
Exploration and Settlement
SASAKATCHEWAN
Saskatchewan, one of the three Prairie provinces of Canada, bounded on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, on the south by the states of North Dakota and Montana, and on the west by Alberta.
Saskatchewan entered the Canadian Confederation on September 1, 1905, along with Alberta as the eighth and ninth provinces. Called Canada's Breadbasket, Saskatchewan contains one of the major wheat-producing areas in the world. By the early 1990s, mining had also become an important sector of the economy as a result of exploitation of the province's large reserves of petroleum, natural gas, and uranium. The name of the province is taken from the Saskatchewan River, which was named by the Cree people and means “fast flowing.”
Land and Resources
Saskatchewan, with an area of 652,330 sq km (251,865 sq mi), is the fifth largest province of Canada; approximately 1.4% of the land area is owned by the federal government. The province is nearly rectangular in shape, and its extreme dimensions are about 1220 km (about 758 mi) from north to south and about 630 km (about 391 mi) from east to west. Elevations range from 213 m (700 ft) in the Lake Athabasca lowland of the northwest to 1468 m (4816 ft) in the Cypress Hills of the southwest. Most of the province lies about 365 to 610 m (about 1200 to 2000 ft) above sea level.
Physical Geography
The Canadian Shield, which covers most of the northern third of Saskatchewan, is a rolling land with abundant lakes and rivers. Bedrock, consisting of ancient volcanic and metamorphic rocks, lies at or close to the ground surface. Soils are thin and rocky and provide no potential for agriculture.
The southern two-thirds of the province is a plains region with a flat to gently rolling terrain. This region is covered in most places by glacial deposits that vary greatly, from sandy or stony soils to those of silt and clay. The northeastern portion, the Manitoba Plain, is an area of marshes and lakes and has rocky soils. It is separated on the west and south from the Saskatchewan Plain by a broken, hilly band known as the Manitoba Escarpment. Forests are found in the northern part of the Saskatchewan Plain, and in the south are the province's richest soils. The Missouri Coteau separates this region from the hillier Alberta Plain, to the southwest. In the southwest are the Cypress Hills, forested bedrock uplands rising to more than 1400 m (more than 4600 ft).
Rivers and Lakes
The Canadian Shield area has vast water resources; its largest lakes—such as Athabasca, Wollaston, and Reindeer—cover many thousands of square kilometers. Drainage here, by numerous short rivers, is to Hudson Bay or the Arctic Ocean. The south has fewer lakes, and the only large river is the Saskatchewan, fed mainly by streams flowing from the Rocky Mountains and the foothills of southern Alberta. Much of the area drains east to Hudson Bay, although the extreme southwest drains into the Mississippi Basin, and several large areas are drained internally. Shorter streams are intermittent, and the smaller towns and farms rely on groundwater supplies. Gardiner Dam (which impounds Lake Diefenbaker), is a large water-storage facility on the South Saskatchewan River.
Climate
Saskatchewan has a cold continental climate. In the south, however, summers are warm enough for grain farming. The average annual temperature ranges from about -8.3° C (about 17° F) in the northeast to about 3.3° C (about 38° F) in the southwest. The recorded temperature has ranged from -56.7° C (-70.1° F) in 1893, at Prince Albert, to 45° C (113° F) in 1937, at Midale. The average annual precipitation is only about 381 mm (about 15 in), most of it falling in spring and summer and thus coinciding with the crop-growing season. Winter snowfall is comparatively light. Summer rain often comes in localized thunderstorms, which sometimes bring damaging hail; tornadoes occur occasionally. Drought is sometimes a problem, and springtime flooding also occurs occasionally from snowmelt runoff after winters with above-average snowfall.
Plants and Animals
The natural grasslands of southern Saskatchewan have mostly been plowed for farming. The northern half, however, is largely covered by boreal forest, or taiga. Its dominant species are spruce and pine. The central region has a mixed forest of conifers, aspen, and poplar grading southward into the aspen parkland—mixed deciduous trees and grassland—at the northern edge of the grasslands proper. About two-fifths of the province's land area is forest-covered.
Among Saskatchewan's large mammals are moose, caribou, black bear, and gray wolf in the forests; white-tailed deer, which are especially numerous in the agricultural south; and pronghorn, which range the southwest. Squirrel, gopher, and rabbit are abundant. Waterfowl are especially plentiful; the ponds of the glaciated grasslands and aspen parkland provide an excellent breeding habitat for ducks, geese, and loons. Various species of frogs and toads occur; reptiles include the prairie rattlesnake, which is restricted to the southwest. Fish abound in the province's lakes and streams and include whitefish, lake trout, walleye, pike, and grayling.
Population
According to the 1999 census, Saskatchewan had 1,001,025 inhabitants. Some 63 percent of all the residents of Saskatchewan lived in areas defined as urban, and the rest lived in rural areas. Saskatoon and Regina (the capital) are, by far, the biggest cities in the province; other major towns include Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorktown, Swift Current, and North Battleford.
Cultural Institutions
Regina is the home of the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts, including the Jubilee Theatre and Hanbidge Hall; the Saskatchewan Museum of Natural History; the Royal Canadian Mounted Police Centennial Museum; and the Norman Mackenzie Art Gallery. The Mendel Art Gallery and the Ukrainian Museum of Canada are in Saskatoon. Also of note is the Western Development Museum, with branches in Moose Jaw, North Battleford, Saskatoon, and Yorkton. Saskatoon has an opera company, and Regina and Saskatoon have symphony orchestras.
Historical Sites
For the most part, the historical points of interest in Saskatchewan commemorate the early pioneers who came to trade or settle in the Province. Among these are Fort Walsh National Historic Site, an early North West Mounted Police post, in Maple Creek; Battleford National Historic Site, containing restored structures from the mid-19th century, in Battleford; Batoche National Historic Site, in Rosthern; and Fort Espérance National Historic Site, near Regina. Also of interest are Wanuskewin Heritage Park, celebrating the culture of the northern Plains peoples, in Saskatoon; Sukanen Ship Pioneer Village and Museum, south of Moose Jaw; and Fort Qu'Appelle, near Regina.
Sports and Recreation
Saskatchewan's Prince Albert National Park, provincial parks, forests, lakes, and rivers offer ideal conditions for fishing, hunting, boating, swimming, camping, golfing, ice hockey, skiing, and curling. The Qu'Appelle Valley region is also popular for outdoor recreational activities.
Fishing
The annual income from commercial fishing in Saskatchewan is relatively small. Most fishing takes place in the lakes and rivers of the northern half of the province. Whitefish, pickerel, and lake trout are the principal commercial species. Fish culture is becoming increasingly important in the southern part of the province, where artificial and natural lakes are used by farmers to supply their own needs.
Tourism
Each year more than 1.6 million visitors contribute more than Can.$780 million to the Saskatchewan economy. The province's lakes, streams, and forests attract numerous hikers and sports enthusiasts. One of the main attractions is Prince Albert National Park, which contains many lakes and much woodland. In addition, Saskatchewan maintains a system of 31 provincial wilderness areas, recreation parks, and historic sites.
Transportation
Regina and Saskatoon are important hubs in a network of 194,325 km (120,748 mi) of highways and roads, of which about 9 percent is paved. The surface transport network is most dense in the south. Saskatchewan has about 3715 km (about 2310 mi) of mainline railroad track. The railroad network is especially concentrated in grain-producing areas; wheat is still the dominant rail cargo, followed by phosphates and other grains. Attempts to phase out uneconomical lines have generated considerable opposition. Air traffic in the province centers on Regina and Saskatoon.
History
The prehistory of the region comprising present-day Saskatchewan is largely unknown, but archaeological research indicates the presence of nomadic plains dwellers as early as 1400 BC. Like the Native Americans of historic times, the plains dwellers were hunters, not agriculturalists.
Exploration and Settlement
The first European known to have entered the area was the British explorer Henry Kelsey, who in 1690 visited parts of the region on behalf of the Hudson's Bay Company. Kelsey, as well as later French and English traders and explorers of the 18th century, encountered a number of Native American tribes, including the Ojibwa, a caribou-hunting people of the far north; the Wood Cree, moose, caribou, and deer hunters living in the mixed-wood belt; and the Assiniboine and Plains Cree, buffalo-hunting tribes of the south. The Native American tribes provided furs and food supplies for the widely scattered trading posts located in the forest and park belts. These posts were built by the French, beginning in the 1750s, and by the British, operating through the Hudson's Bay Company, in the 1770s. Following the Treaty of Paris of 1763, all trading was controlled by the Hudson's Bay Company. In 1870, when the company sold its territories to Canada, the area became part of the Northwest Territories.
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