Central Canada.

GMT - 6 (GMT - 5 from second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November).

552,370 sq km (213,271 sq miles).

1.1 million (official census 2006).

2.1 per sq km.

Winnipeg. Population: 706,700 (2006).

Manitoba is bordered by the US states of North Dakota and Minnesota to the south, Saskatchewan to the west, Ontario to the east, and the Northwest Territories and Nunavut to the north. It is the easternmost of Canada's three Prairie Provinces, and also known as Heartland Canada as well as the ‘Land of 100,000 Lakes'. The landscape is diverse, ranging from rolling farmland to sandy beaches on the shores of Lake Winnipeg, and from the desert landscape of the south to northern parkland covered by lakes, forests and sub-Arctic tundra.

Although Canada is officially bilingual (English and French), English is commonly spoken in Manitoba.

Smoking is prohibited in Manitoba in all public places including restaurants, drinking establishments, shopping malls and sporting events.