THOMPSON

city, north-central Manitoba, Canada. It lies along the Burntwood River, in the Mystery-Moak lakes area, 130 miles (210 km) north of Lake Winnipeg. Planned in 1956 by the International Nickel Company of Canada and named for John F. Thompson, the company chairman, the community was completed in 1961. Its integrated nickel mining-smelting-refining plant was the first in the Western Hemisphere. Economically, Thompson is entirely dependent upon nickel extraction from the Thompson and Birchtree mines, which are among the most productive in Canada. The city is served by a branch line of the Canadian National Railway extending from The Pas (243 miles southwest) to Churchill (240 miles northeast) on Hudson Bay. Thompson has air service to Winnipeg. Inc. 1967. Pop. (1991) 14,977.