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Saskatchewan ( or ) is a prairie province in Canada, which has a total area of and a land area of , the remainder being water area (covered by lakes/ponds, reservoirs and rivers). Saskatchewan is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the American states of Montana and North Dakota. As of December 2013, the population of Saskatchewan was estimated at 1,114,170. Residents primarily live in the southern half of the province. Of the total population, 257,300 live in the province's largest city, Saskatoon, while 210,000 live in the provincial capital, Regina. Other major cities include Prince Albert, Moose Jaw, Yorkton, Estevan, Swift Current, and North Battleford. Saskatchewan is a landlocked province with large distances to moderating bodies of waters. As a result its climate is extremely continental, rendering severe winters all throughout the province. Southern areas have very warm or hot summers. Midale and Yellow Grass near the U.S. border are tied for the highest ever recorded temperatures in Canada with observed at both locations in July 1937.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Midale Climate Normals 1971-2000 )〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=Yellow Grass Climate Normals 1971-2000 )〕 In winter, temperatures below are possible even in the south during extreme cold snaps. Saskatchewan has been inhabited for thousands of years by various indigenous groups, and first explored by Europeans in 1690 and settled in 1774. It became a province in 1905, its name derived from the Saskatchewan River. The river was known as ''kisiskāciwani-sīpiy'' ("swift flowing river") in the Cree language. In the early 20th century the province became known as a stronghold for Canadian democratic socialism. Tommy Douglas, who was premier from 1944 to 1961, became the first social-democratic politician to be elected in North America. The province's economy is based on agriculture, mining, and energy. Saskatchewan's current premier is Brad Wall and its lieutenant-governor is Vaughn Solomon Schofield. In 1992, the federal and provincial governments signed a historic land claim agreement with First Nations in Saskatchewan.〔 The First Nations received compensation and were permitted to buy land on the open market for the tribes; they have acquired about , now reserve lands. Some First Nations have used their settlement to invest in urban areas, including Saskatoon.〔("Treaty Land Entitlement – The English River Story, Saskatchewan" ), Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development Canada, accessed November 25, 2011〕 ==Geography== (詳細はlongitude and latitude, the province is roughly a quadrilateral, or a shape with four sides. However the 49th parallel boundary and the 60th northern border appear curved on globes and many maps. Additionally, the eastern boundary of the province is partially crooked rather than following a line of longitude, as correction lines were devised by surveyors prior to the homestead program (1880–1928). Saskatchewan is part of the Western Provinces and is bounded on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the north-east by Nunavut, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the American states of Montana and North Dakota. Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features (i.e. they are all parallels and meridians). Along with Alberta, Saskatchewan is one of only two provinces that are land-locked. The overwhelming majority of Saskatchewan's population is located in the southern third of the province, south of the 53rd parallel. Saskatchewan contains two major natural regions: the Canadian Shield in the north and the Interior Plains in the south. Northern Saskatchewan is mostly covered by boreal forest except for the Lake Athabasca Sand Dunes, the largest active sand dunes in the world north of 58°, and adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Athabasca. Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over . The Cypress Hills, located in the southwestern corner of Saskatchewan and Killdeer Badlands (Grasslands National Park), are areas of the province that remained unglaciated during the last glaciation period, the Wisconsin glaciation. The province's highest point, at , is located in the Cypress Hills less than 2 km from the provincial boundary with Alberta. The lowest point is the shore of Lake Athabasca, at . The province has 14 major drainage basins made up of various rivers and watersheds draining into the Arctic Ocean, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.〔(Hydrology ) from The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Saskatchewan」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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