Claim: Manitoba is a region.

Manitoba -LRB- -LSB- mænᵻˈtoʊbə -RSB- -RRB- is a province at the longitudinal centre of Canada . It is one of the three prairie provinces -LRB- with Alberta and Saskatchewan -RRB- and Canada 's fifth-most populous province with its estimated 1.3 million people . Manitoba covers 649950 km2 with a widely varied landscape . The province is bordered by the provinces of Ontario to the east and Saskatchewan to the west , the territories of Nunavut to the north , and Northwest Territories to the northwest , and the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south .   Aboriginal peoples have inhabited what is now Manitoba for thousands of years . In the late 17th century , fur traders arrived in the area when it was part of Rupert 's Land and owned by the Hudson 's Bay Company . In 1869 , negotiations for the creation of the province of Manitoba led to an armed uprising of the Métis people against the Government of Canada , a conflict known as the Red River Rebellion . The rebellion 's resolution led to the Parliament of Canada passing the Manitoba Act in 1870 that created the province .   Manitoba 's capital and largest city , Winnipeg , is the eighth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada . Other census agglomerations in the province are Brandon , Steinbach , Portage la Prairie , and Thompson .