Rural (country)

Manitoba’s population, at approximately 1.2 million people, is spread across a huge territory, from the 49th parallel bordering the US states of Montana, North Dakota and Minnesota to near the Arctic circle and Hudson Bay in the Arctic Ocean. Within that vast swath of land, we have hundreds of towns and villages, scores of Hutterite colonies with populations of about 160 members, and dozens of First Nations reservations, with populations from a few hundred to 10,000. These reservations were established under treaties from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Many do not have road access and may only be reached by water, rail, winter roads of packed snow and ice or by air. There are a few communes, generally religious in nature, with limited populations.