Fort Rouge (fortification) in the context of François de La Vérendrye

Winnipeg (/ˈwɪnɪpɛɡ/ ) is the capital and largest city of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers. As of 2021, Winnipeg had a city population of 749,607 and a metropolitan population of 834,678, making it Canada's sixth-largest city and eighth-largest metropolitan area.

The city is named after the nearby Lake Winnipeg; the name "Winnipeg" comes from the Western Cree words for "muddy water" – winipīhk. The region was a trading centre for Indigenous peoples long before the arrival of Europeans; it is the traditional territory of the Anishinaabe (Ojibway), Ininew (Cree), Oji-Cree, Dene, and Dakota, and is the birthplace of the Métis Nation. French traders built the first fort, Fort Rouge, on the site in 1738. A settlement was later founded by the Selkirk settlers of the Red River Colony in 1812, the nucleus of which was incorporated as the City of Winnipeg in 1873. Being far inland, the city's climate is extremely seasonal (continental) even by Canadian standards, with average January highs of around −11 °C (12 °F) and average July highs of 26 °C (79 °F).