Saskatchewan, Saskatchewan, Canada

Facts & Statistics
Place Name	Saskatchewan
Pronunciation	suhs-KACH-uh-wuhn
Place Status (Type)	province
Population	988,928 (1991)
Location	Saskatchewan, Canada, North America
Latitude	54°00'N
Longitude	106°00'W

Saskatchewan (suhs-KACH-uh-wuhn), province ( 251,700 sq mi/ 651,903 sq km; 1991 pop. 988,928), W Canada, Regina, largest city; 54°00'N 106°00'W. Other important cities are Prince Albert, Saskatoon, and Moose Jaw. Sask. is bounded on the N by the N.W.T., on the E by Man., on the S by N.Dak. and Mont., and on the W by Alberta. Its N ⅓ is part of the Laurentian Plateau. The principal rivers are the Churchill, the North and South Saskatchewan, and the Qu'Appelle. Bet. the Saskatchewan and Churchill rivers lies a mixed forest belt containing much marketable timber; a sect. is reserved as Prince Albert Natl. Park. Only in S Sask. has there been any substantial settlement or development. Except for a semiarid sect. in the SW used for grazing and an area in the E and central portion given over to mixed farming and dairying, the land is devoted to the raising of hard wheat. Sask. normally produces 66% of Canada's wheat. The vast expanses of unbroken plain are well-suited to large-scale mechanized farming. Oats, barley, rye, rapeseed, and flax are also grown throughout this region. Sask. is rich in minerals. Oil and natural gas, found in the prairie land, are by far the prov.'s most important minerals. The region N of L. Athabaska has been exploited for ores yielding uranium. The region around Flin Flon, in the NE, is mined for copper, zinc, and gold. Coal is mined in the SW. Potash mining was begun in the 1950s near Saskatoon and Esterhazy, and Canada is now a leading producer of this mineral. Most of the prov.'s industries process raw materials. A steel mill was opened in Regina in 1960. The historic occupation of fur trapping is still practiced. Original inhabitants include tribes of 3 linguistic groups: the Athapaskan, Algonquian, and Siouan. Henry Kelsey of the Hudson's Bay Co. was probably the 1st European to see the area of Sask. (c.1690). The earliest trading posts were est. by the French (c.1750), but the 1st permanent settlement was made at Cumberland House in 1774 by the Hudson's Bay Co. Subsequently many other posts were set up by Br. fur traders along the region's waterways. In 1870 the Hudson's Bay Co., which had merged with the North West Co. in 1821, ceded its rights to the Can. govt., and the area became part of the N.W.T. The construction of a RR line (1882) brought many settlers from E Canada and later from Europe and opened up trade through the Great Lakes ports. Most Native Americans in the N.W.T. sold their lands to the govt. in the 1870s and were placed on reservations. Other Sask. Native Americans and Metis, people of mixed Fr. and Native Amer. ancestry, led by Louis Riel, rebelled in 1884-1885 and were suppressed. Sask. became a prov. in 1905. In the early 20th cent. Sask. farmers formed cooperative organizations to stabilize grain marketing. During the drought and depression of the 1930s the prov.'s pop. declined as immigration almost stopped and many families left the area. Conservation programs and the increased demand for grain during World War II revived the economy. Sask. sends 6 senators and 14 representatives to the natl. parliament. The Univ. of Sask. at Saskatoon and the Univ. of Regina are the leading higher educational institutions.