WINNIPEG

city, capital (1870) of Manitoba, Canada. It lies at the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, 40 miles (65 km) south-southwest of Lake Winnipeg and 60 miles (95 km) north of the Minnesota (U.S.) border. After the establishment of Fort-Rouge in 1738 on the site by the French voyageur La Vrendrye, there were later trading posts on the site: Fort Gibraltar (built by the North West Company in 1804) and Fort Garry (by the Hudson's Bay Company, 1821). These, together with the Red River Settlement of Scottish colonists (founded in 181112) formed the nucleus of the new city, the name of which was taken from that of Lake Winnipeg and derived from the Cree Indian words win nipee (muddy water). The arrival in 1881 of the Canadian Pacific, the first Canadian transcontinental railroad, led to Winnipeg's becoming the major grain market and warehousing and distributing point for the Prairie Provinces. The city also serves the mining districts of the north and is now one of Canada's largest industrial, communications, commercial, financial, and insurance centres. The city's economic activities include flour milling, meat-packing, printing, food processing, brewing, and the manufacture of clothing, automobiles, and farm machinery. Winnipeg's industrial growth has been stimulated by the availability of cheap hydroelectric power (from plants on the Winnipeg River) and natural gas and of excellent transportation facilities. A major junction on two transcontinental rail lines and the Trans-Canada Highway, Winnipeg also has a busy international airport. Following disastrous floods in 1950, the 30-mile (48-kilometre) Red River Floodway was built (completed 1967), allowing that river's floodwaters to bypass the city. A cosmopolitan city of many ethnic groups, Winnipeg dominates Manitoba's cultural life. It is the home of a symphony orchestra, the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, and the Manitoba Theatre Centre. It is the seat of the University of Manitoba (1877) and its affiliated colleges of St. Boniface (1818), St. John's (1866), St. Paul's (1926), and St. Andrew's (1946) and of the University of Winnipeg (1947, formerly United College). The provincial Legislative Building (1920) is a neoclassical structure with the well-known Golden Boy (a bronze statue of a youth carrying a torch in his right hand and a sheaf of wheat over his left arm) on top of its dome. The city's Centennial Centre includes the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature and a planetarium. Winnipeg plays host to an annual (August) international festival of folk arts. On Jan. 1, 1972, the municipalities that comprised the Metropolitan Corporation of Greater Winnipeg (including Saint Boniface , Saint James, East and West Kildonan, Transcona and Saint Vital) were absorbed into the city. Inc. 1873. Pop. (1991) city, 616,790; metropolitan area, 652,354.