Regina

Capital of Saskatchewan, Canada, on Wascana Creek, 575 km/359 mi from Winnipeg; population (2006) 179,200. Industries include oil-refining, food-processing, and the manufacture of cement, steel, farm machinery, wood and paper products, paints, and fertilizers. It is connected by pipeline to the oil-fields of Alberta. Surrounded by a vast wheat-producing prairie, the city has been the headquarters of the Saskatchewan Wheat Pool, one of the world's largest cooperatives, since 1926.

It was founded as Pile O'Bones in 1882, on a former hunting site of the Native Canadian Cree people, and renamed in honour of Queen Victoria of England. It was incorporated as a town in 1883, and as a city in 1903.

In 1883 Regina became the capital of the Northwest Territories, replacing Battleford. The territories were divided in 1906, when it became capital of the new province of Saskatchewan. The city contains some notable buildings, many associated with provincial and federal government offices, such as Government House (1898). The downtown area was extensively redeveloped in the 1980s and 1990s.The artificial Lake Wascana, created in the 1930s as part of a work project for the unemployed, is a popular recreational area. The Royal Canadian Mounted Police Barracks are located here, the basic training school for all Mounties; a museum traces their history. Regina College (1911) became part of the University of Saskatchewan in 1925, and became the independent University of Regina in 1974. Cultural institutions include the Mackenzie Art Gallery (1953), the Royal Saskatchewan Museum (1955), and the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts (1970). Bazaart, an annual outdoor arts and crafts fair, was started in 1974.