Long before the fur traders and the farmers had arrived, aboriginal peoples lived in the area now known as Winnipeg.  The first European arrived here in 1733. While the London-based Hudson's Bay Company (which was granted a fur-trading monopoly over most of Western Canada in 1670) had furs delivered to their posts on Hudson's Bay, French-Canadian and English-speaking voyageurs  traveled from Canada to trade in the southern regions. The Hudson's Bay Company and the Canadian North West Company battled intensely for furs. Sometimes the competition became violent; as both companies began building forts across the plains, open warfare broke out. In 1821, the two fur companies merged, and peace finally came. Winnipeg was incorporated as a city in 1873, with a population of 1,869 people. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1885 brought a 30-year period of growth and prosperity , the Red River settlement flourished. A flood of immigrants, high wheat prices,  and improved farming techniques contributed to making Winnipeg the wholesale, administrative, and financial centre of western Canada.
Winnipeg has a continental-type climate, enjoying four distinct seasons. There are significant temperature variations through the year generally ranging from highs of +35 degrees Celsius to lows of -40 degrees Celsius. The City is the sunshine capital of Canada, with over 2300 hours of sun annually. The sky is arguably as blue as in southern Italy. The average annual precipitation is approximately 535 millimeters per year, of which about 1/5 falls as snow. 
Winnipeg's future looks as bright now as it did in the 1890s, when it was the Gateway to the West. Present population is 640000. Friendly and spirited are just two of the many positive adjectives visitors use to describe the residents of this unique prairie city. We found Winnipeg as a place that hard to leave and impossible to forget. For over 6000 years people came here to trade and live. The Forks is historic place at the junction of the Red  and Assiniboine Rivers. Aboriginal peoples from across the North American plains and eastern forests came to this spot to trade, to hunt, to fish, and to celebrate. 
For its role Red river has got nickname "Mississippi of the North". 
It is in the heart of downtown, place for people to meet, play and work year around. The Forks offers activities, festivals and public market too.  100 festivals throughout the year for more than 20 years offers the opportunity to hear local musicians and from around the world.
Every winter there is open Winter Park at The Forks for skating, tobogganing, snowboarding and snow skating. The  city of Winnipeg in 1904 purchased 283 acres of prairie and forest along the Assiniboine to build a park.
It is the largest and the oldest in Winnipeg, it has English Garden, Formal Garden, a duck pond, a conservatory, a Tudor-style pavilion,  zoo and Leo Mol Sculpture Garden. 
Leo Mol Sculpture Garden is unique and the only in North America dedicated to the work of a single sculptor. It was opened in 1992. The sculpture garden has attracted more than 250,000 visitors a year. This Garden displays an impressive collection of bronze sculptures, porcelains, paintings and sketches. There is although Leo Mol Schoolhouse Studio. 
Assiniboine Park Conservatory is the longest conservatory in Western Canada. It features Palm House with tropical and exotic trees. It has display of flowering and foliage plants around the year. Visitors can see a foyer filled with Winnipeg local art groups. 
Assiniboine Park Zoo is the second largest animal collection in Canada, opened in 1908, it displays more than 1800 animals of 300 different species in its collection, including the Siberian Tiger, Polar Bear, Snow Leopard and Monkeys.
Father of Manitoba, who gave his life for his people, Louis Riel, is perhaps the most controversial figure in Canadian historiography. A leader of his people in their resistance against the Canadian government in the Canadian Northwest, victim and villain, well educated metis, he remained a controversial figure in death as in life.
The St. Boniface Basilica was built in 1908, and destroyed by fire in 1968. The dramatic facade is all that is left of the original St. Boniface Cathedral-Basilica which was destroyed by fire in 1968. Its cemetery includes the graves of many important Manitoba figures, including Louis Riel.
St. Vital Park remains as one of Winnipeg's most engaging landscaped parks. The park tucked away in a bend of the Red River Purchased by the city in 1929, the park has large sections of thick woods, mixed with open meadows and vast viewpoints along the high river bank.
St.Vital as the most populated ward in the city. The area with many large, older homes lining the rivers and more new housing developments being built every year. One of the highlights of St. Vital is the green space. Old, tall trees line most of the yards and roads in this ward, giving the area, especially the riverside properties, a lakeside atmosphere.
University of Manitoba is the province's largest university and the oldest in Western Canada (established in 1877), offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, the arts.
The University of Winnipeg, constructed in 1896, is located in the city center. It is known for its excellent liberal arts and science programs.