Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta<\/a>, on the north by the Northwest Territories<\/a>, on the east by Manitoba<\/a>, to the northeast by Nunavut<\/a>, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana<\/a> and North Dakota<\/a>. As of Q2 2019, Saskatchewan’s population was estimated at 1,169,131. Residents primarily live in the southern prairie<\/a> half of the province, while the northern boreal<\/a> half is mostly forested and sparsely populated. Of the total population, roughly half live in the province’s largest city Saskatoon, or the provincial capital Regina<\/a>. Other notable cities include Prince Albert<\/a>, Moose Jaw<\/a>, Yorkton<\/a>, Swift Current<\/a>, North Battleford<\/a>, Melfort<\/a>, and the border city Lloydminster<\/a> (partially within Alberta).<\/p>\n Saskatchewan is a landlocked province with large distances to moderating bodies of waters. As a result, its climate is extremely continental, rendering severe winters throughout the province. Southern areas have very warm or hot summers. Midale<\/a> and Yellow Grass<\/a> near the U.S. border are tied for the highest ever recorded temperatures in Canada with 45 \u00b0C (113 \u00b0F) observed at both locations on July 5, 1937. In winter, temperatures below \u221245 \u00b0C (\u221249 \u00b0F) are possible even in the south during extreme cold snaps.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups,<\/a> and first explored by Europeans in 1690 and settled in 1774. It became a province in 1905, carved out from the vast North-West Territories<\/a>, which had until then included most of the Canadian Prairies<\/a>. In the early 20th century the province became known as a stronghold for Canadian social democracy; North America’s first social-democratic government was elected in 1944<\/a>. The province’s economy is based on agriculture, mining, and energy.<\/p>\n The former Lieutenant Governor, Thomas Molloy<\/a>, died in office on July 2, 2019. On July 17, 2019, the federal government announced the appointment of Russell Mirasty<\/a>, former Assistant Commissioner with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police<\/a>, as the new Lieutenant Governor. The current premier is Scott Moe<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1992, the federal and provincial governments signed a historic land claim agreement with First Nations in Saskatchewan<\/a>. The First Nations received compensation and were permitted to buy land on the open market for the bands; they have acquired about 3,079 square kilometers, now reserve lands. Some First Nations have used their settlement to invest in urban areas, including Saskatoon.<\/p>\n Its name derived from the Saskatchewan River<\/a>. The river was known as kisisk\u0101ciwani-s\u012bpiy (“swift flowing river”) in the Cree language<\/a>.<\/p>\n As Saskatchewan’s borders largely follow the geographic coordinates of longitude and latitude, the province is roughly a quadrilateral, or a shape with four sides. However, the 49th parallel boundary and the 60th northern border appear curved on globes and many maps. Additionally, the eastern boundary of the province is partially crooked rather than following a line of longitude, as correction lines were devised by surveyors prior to the homestead program (1880\u20131928).<\/p>\n Saskatchewan is part of the Western Provinces and is bounded on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the north-east by Nunavut, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota. Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features (i.e. they are all parallels and meridians). Along with Alberta, Saskatchewan is one of only two land-locked provinces.<\/p>\n The overwhelming majority of Saskatchewan’s population is located in the southern third of the province, south of the 53rd parallel.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan contains two major natural regions: the Boreal Forest in the north and the Prairies in the south. They are separated by an aspen parkland<\/a> transition zone near the North Saskatchewan River on the western side of the province, and near to south of the Saskatchewan River on the eastern side. Northern Saskatchewan is mostly covered by forest except for the Lake Athabasca Sand Dunes<\/a>, the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58\u00b0, and adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Athabasca<\/a>. Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the “Great Sand Hills” covering over 300 square kilometers. The Cypress Hills<\/a>, located in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan and Killdeer Badlands (Grasslands National Park)<\/a>, are areas of the province that were un-glaciated during the last glaciation period, the Wisconsin glaciation<\/a>.<\/p>\n The province’s highest point, at 1,392 meters, is located in the Cypress Hills less than 2 km from the provincial boundary with Alberta. The lowest point is the shore of Lake Athabasca, at 213 meters. The province has 14 major drainage basins made up of various rivers and watersheds draining into the Arctic Ocean<\/a>, Hudson Bay<\/a> and the Gulf of Mexico<\/a>.<\/p>\n Saskatchewan has been populated by various indigenous peoples of North America, including members of the Sarcee<\/a>, Niitsitapi<\/a>, Atsina<\/a>, Cree, Saulteaux<\/a>, Assiniboine (Nakoda)<\/a>, Lakota<\/a> and Sioux<\/a>. The first known European to enter Saskatchewan was Henry Kelsey<\/a> in 1690, who traveled up the Saskatchewan River in hopes of trading fur with the region’s indigenous peoples.<\/p>\n The first permanent European settlement was a Hudson’s Bay Company<\/a> post at Cumberland House<\/a>, founded in 1774 by Samuel Hearne<\/a>. In 1762 the south of the province was part of the Spanish Louisiana<\/a> until 1802.<\/p>\n In 1803 the Louisiana Purchase<\/a> transferred from France to the United States part of what is now Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1818 the U.S. ceded the area to Britain. Most of what is now Saskatchewan was part of Rupert’s Land<\/a> and controlled by the Hudson’s Bay Company, which claimed rights to all watersheds flowing into Hudson Bay, including the Saskatchewan River, Churchill<\/a>, Assiniboine<\/a>, Souris<\/a>, and Qu’Appelle River<\/a> systems.<\/p>\n In the late 1850s and early 1860s, scientific expeditions led by John Palliser<\/a> and Henry Youle Hind<\/a> explored the prairie region of the province.<\/p>\n In 1870, Canada acquired the Hudson’s Bay Company’s territories and formed the North-West Territories to administer the vast territory between British Columbia<\/a> and Manitoba. The Crown also entered into a series of numbered treaties<\/a> with the indigenous peoples of the area, which serve as the basis of the relationship between First Nations, as they are called today, and the Crown. Since the late twentieth century, land losses and inequities as a result of those treaties have been subject to negotiation for settlement between the First Nations in Saskatchewan and the federal government, in collaboration with provincial governments.<\/p>\n In 1876, following their defeat of United States Army forces at the Battle of the Little Bighorn<\/a> in Montana Territory<\/a> in the United States, the Lakota Chief Sitting Bull<\/a> led several thousand of his people to Wood Mountain. Survivors and descendants founded Wood Mountain Reserve<\/a> in 1914.<\/p>\n The North-West Mounted Police set up several posts and forts across Saskatchewan, including Fort Walsh<\/a> in the Cypress Hills, and Wood Mountain Post<\/a> in south-central Saskatchewan near the United States border.<\/p>\n Many M\u00e9tis<\/a> people, who had not been signatories to a treaty, had moved to the Southbranch Settlement<\/a> and Prince Albert district north of present-day Saskatoon following the Red River Rebellion<\/a> in Manitoba in 1870. In the early 1880s, the Canadian government refused to hear the M\u00e9tis’ grievances, which stemmed from land-use issues. Finally, in 1885, the M\u00e9tis, led by Louis Riel, staged the North-West Rebellion<\/a> and declared a provisional government. They were defeated by a Canadian militia brought to the Canadian prairies by the new Canadian Pacific Railway<\/a>. Riel, who surrendered and was convicted of treason in a packed Regina courtroom, was hanged on November 16, 1885. Since then, the government has recognized the M\u00e9tis as an aboriginal people with status rights and provided them with various benefits.<\/p>\n The national policy set by the federal government, the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Hudson’s Bay Company and associated land companies encouraged immigration. The Dominion Lands Act<\/a> of 1872 permitted settlers to acquire one quarter of a square mile of land to homestead and offered an additional quarter upon establishing a homestead. In 1874, the North-West Mounted Police began providing police services. In 1876, the North-West Territories Act provided for appointment, by the Ottawa, of a Lieutenant Governor and a Council to assist him.<\/p>\n Highly optimistic advertising campaigns promoted the benefits of prairie living. Potential immigrants read leaflets information painted Canada as a veritable garden of Eden and downplayed the need for agricultural expertise. Ads in The Nor’-West Farmer by the Commissioner of Immigration implied that western land was blessed with water, wood, gold, silver, iron, copper, and cheap coal for fuel, all of which were readily at hand. Reality was far harsher, especially for the first arrivals who lived in sod houses<\/a>. However eastern money poured in and by 1913, long term mortgage loans to Saskatchewan farmers had reached $65 million.<\/p>\n The dominant groups comprised British settlers from eastern Canada and Britain, who comprised about half of the population during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They played the leading role in establishing the basic institutions of plains society, economy and government.<\/p>\n On September 1, 1905, Saskatchewan became a province, with inauguration day held September 4. Its political leaders at the time proclaimed its destiny was to become Canada’s most powerful province. Saskatchewan embarked on an ambitious province-building program based on its Anglo-Canadian culture and wheat production for the export market. Population quintupled from 91,000 in 1901 to 492,000 to 1911, thanks to heavy immigration of farmers from the Ukraine, U.S., Germany and Scandinavia. Efforts were made to assimilate the newcomers to British Canadian culture and values.<\/p>\n Immigration peaked in 1910, and in spite of the initial difficulties of frontier life \u2013 distance from towns, sod homes, and backbreaking labor \u2013 new settlers established a European-Canadian style of prosperous agrarian society. The long-term prosperity of the province depended on the world price of grain, which headed steadily upward from the 1880s to 1920, then plunged down. Wheat output was increased by new strains, such as the “Marquis wheat<\/a>” strain which matured 8 days sooner and yielded 7 more bushels per acre than the previous standard, “Red Fife”. The national output of wheat soared from 8 million bushels in 1896, to 26 million in 1901, reaching 151 million by 1921.<\/p>\n The province responded to the First World War in 1914 with patriotic enthusiasm and enjoyed the resultant economic boom for farms and cities alike. Emotional and intellectual support for the war emerged from the politics of Canadian national identity, the rural myth, and social gospel progressivism The Church of England was especially supportive. However, there was strong hostility toward German-Canadian farmers. Recent Ukrainian immigrants were enemy aliens because of their citizenship in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. A small fraction were taken to internment camps<\/a>. Most of the internees were unskilled unemployed laborers who were imprisoned because they were destitute, not because they were disloyal.<\/p>\n The price of wheat tripled and acreage seeded doubled. The wartime spirit of sacrifice intensified social reform movements that had predated the war and now came to fruition. Saskatchewan gave women the right to vote in 1916 and at the end of 1916 passed a referendum to prohibit the sale of alcohol.<\/p>\n In 1970, the first annual Canadian Western Agribition<\/a> was held in Regina. This farm-industry trade show, with its strong emphasis on livestock, is rated as one of the five top livestock shows in North America, along with those in Houston<\/a>, Denver<\/a>, Louisville<\/a> and Toronto<\/a>.<\/p>\n The province celebrated the 75th anniversary of its establishment in 1980, with Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon<\/a>, presiding over the official ceremonies. In 2005, 25 years later, her sister, Queen Elizabeth II<\/a>, attended the events held to mark Saskatchewan’s centennial.<\/p>\n Since the late 20th century, First Nations have become more politically active in seeking justice for past inequities, especially related to government taking of indigenous lands. The federal and provincial governments have negotiated on numerous land claims, and developed a program of “Treaty Land Entitlement”, enabling First Nations to buy land to be taken into reserves with money from settlements of claims.<\/p>\n Historically, Saskatchewan’s economy was primarily associated with agriculture. However, increasing diversification has resulted in agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting only making up 6.8% of the province’s GDP. Saskatchewan grows a large portion of Canada’s grain. Wheat is the most familiar crop and the one most often associated with the province (there are sheafs of wheat depicted on the coat of arms of Saskatchewan), but other grains like canola<\/a>, flax<\/a>, rye<\/a>, oats<\/a>, peas<\/a>, lentils<\/a>, canary seed, and barley<\/a> are also produced. Saskatchewan is the world’s largest exporter of mustard seed. Beef cattle production by a Canadian province is only exceeded by Alberta. In the northern part of the province, forestry is also a significant industry.<\/p>\n Mining is a major industry in the province, with Saskatchewan being the world’s largest exporter of potash<\/a> and uranium<\/a>.<\/p>\n Oil and natural gas production is also a very important part of Saskatchewan’s economy, although the oil industry is larger. Among Canadian provinces, only Alberta exceeds Saskatchewan in overall oil production. Heavy crude is extracted in the Lloydminster-Kerrobert-Kindersley areas. Light crude is found in the Kindersley-Swift Current areas as well as the Weyburn-Estevan fields. Natural gas is found almost entirely in the western part of Saskatchewan, from the Primrose Lake<\/a> area through Lloydminster, Unity, Kindersley, Leader, and around Maple Creek areas.<\/p>\n Transportation in Saskatchewan includes an infrastructure system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ferries, pipelines, trails, waterways and railway systems serving a population of approximately 1,003,299 (according to 2007 estimates) inhabitants year-round. It is funded primarily with local and federal government funds. The Saskatchewan Department of Highways and Transportation estimates 80% of traffic is carried on the 5,031-kilometer principal system of highways.<\/p>\n The Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure<\/a> operates over 26,000 kilometers of highways and divided highways. There are also municipal roads which comprise different surfaces.<\/p>\n The first Canadian transcontinental railway was constructed by the Canadian Pacific Railway between 1881 and 1885. After the great east-west transcontinental railway was built, north-south connector branch lines were established. Today the only two passenger rail services in the province are The Canadian<\/a> and Winnipeg\u2013Churchill<\/a> train, both operated by Via Rail<\/a>. The Canadian is a transcontinental service linking Toronto with Vancouver<\/a>.<\/p>\n The Saskatoon Airport (YXE)<\/a> was initially established as part of the Royal Canadian Air Force training program during World War II. It was renamed the John G. Diefenbaker Airport in the official ceremony, June 23, 1993. Roland J. Groome Airfield is the official designation for the Regina International Airport (YQR)<\/a> as of August 3, 2005; the airport was established in 1930.<\/p>\n Airlines offering service to Saskatchewan are Air Canada<\/a>, WestJet Airlines<\/a>, United Airlines<\/a>, Delta Air Lines<\/a>, Transwest Air<\/a>, Sunwing Airlines<\/a>, Norcanair Airlines<\/a>, La Ronge Aviation Services Ltd, La Loche Airways, Osprey Wings Ltd, Buffalo Narrows Airways Ltd, \u00cele-\u00e0-la-Crosse Airways Ltd, Voyage Air, Pronto Airways<\/a>, Venture Air Ltd, Pelican Narrows Air Service, Jackson Air Services Ltd, and Northern Dene Airways Ltd.<\/p>\n The provincial flag of Saskatchewan features the armorial bearings (coat of arms) in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the western red lily (Lilium philadelphicum<\/em><\/a>), in the fly. The upper green half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the gold lower half symbolizes the southern, prairie wheat-fields.<\/p>\n The current flag of Saskatchewan was adopted on September 22, 1969, the result of a province-wide competition that drew over four thousand entries. The winning entry was designed by Anthony Drake of Hodgeville, Saskatchewan<\/a>.<\/p>\n In 1964, a special flag was granted to Saskatchewan in honor of the province’s sixtieth anniversary. The Saskatchewan government organized a competition for a distinctive flag in anticipation of the 60th anniversary of the Province. It was recommended that the colors of the provincial coat of arms, granted by royal warrant in 1906, be included. The winning flag was selected out of 241 entries and was designed by Sister Imelda Burgart of St. Angela\u2019s Convent at Prelate<\/a>. The Diamond Jubilee Flag of Saskatchewan was first officially hoisted on January 31, 1965. The use of this flag was soon extended to the Centennial celebrations of 1967.<\/p>\n Sponsors hoped that it would become the provincial flag, as the province did not yet have one. The flag features a stylized stalk of wheat towards the staff and the provincial coat of arms in the upper quarter further from the staff. The flag’s background is red in its upper half and green in its lower half. The symbolism of the flag’s colors is similar to that of the official provincial flag: red symbolizes the fires that once ravaged the prairies, green symbolizes agricultural cultivation and life, and gold symbolizes the wheat fields.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The provincial flag of Saskatchewan features the armorial bearings (coat of arms) in the upper quarter nearest the staff, with the floral emblem, the western red lily (Lilium philadelphicum), in the fly. The upper green half of the flag represents the northern Saskatchewan forest lands, while the gold lower half symbolizes the southern, prairie wheat-fields. <\/p>\n The current flag of Saskatchewan was adopted on September 22, 1969, the result of a province-wide competition that drew over four thousand entries. The winning entry was designed by Anthony Drake of Hodgeville, Saskatchewan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4036,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[80,81,8,9,5,6,7,41],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3859"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3859"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3859\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3859"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3859"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3859"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Saskatchewan-in-Canada-300x255.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Etymology:<\/h2>\n
Geography:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Saskatchewan-Topographic-Map-170x300.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>History:<\/h2>\n
Early History:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Henry-Kelsey-Observed-Bison-290x300.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>19th Century:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Saskatchewan-Mostly-in-Ruperts-Land-300x178.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Northwest-Rebellion-300x212.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>European Settlements:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Advertisement-to-Attract-Settlers-300x249.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>20th Century:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/1907-Farmers-300x183.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Memorial-for-Interred-Ukranian-Canadians-WWI-300x201.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Post World War II:<\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Elizabeth-II-Statue-in-Regina-300x178.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Economy:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Oil-Well-in-Saskatchewan.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Transportation:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Saskatoon-Airport-YXE-300x169.jpg\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>Flag of Saskatchewan:<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Flag-of-Saskatchewan-300x150.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.smoketreemanor.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/7\/2019\/12\/Saskatchewan-60th-Anniversary-Flag-300x180.png\" "\\"\\"")
<\/a>