Regina is the capital city of Saskatchewan, with a population of 187 441 as of a 2002 Saskatchewan Health census, which makes it Canada's sixteenth-largest city. It is located in south-central Saskatchewan -- midway between Calgary and Winnipeg, a hundred miles north of North Dakota and Montana -- at a latitude of 50º27' north, and a longitude of 104º37' west. City council seems inordinately proud of the fact that this places Regina very near to the geographic centre of North America. In the scheme of things this is unimportant, but they won't let you forget it.
It also prides itself on being the sunniest of Canada's capital cities, with an average of 2365 hours of sunshine each year. This means nothing to Reginians during winter, which as across much of the Canadian prairie is long, bitterly cold, and generally overcast. Precipitation averages around 364 millimetres annually, divided between summer rain and winter snowfall.
Regina is located on a landform called (surprisingly enough) the Regina Plain, a large flat area that extends east of Moose Jaw at an elevation of approximately 577 metres above sea level. During the last Ice Age it was covered by a massive glacial lake; a relic of this lake is the bed of clay upon which the city is been built. Affectionately nicknamed "Regina gumbo", it is responsible for the terrible condition of city streets and surrounding highways as well as for the gradual sinking and settling of foundations citywide, cause for great consternation among would-be home renovators in older areas of town.
Though the area around it is solid farmland, dotted with small towns economically almost entirely reliant on agriculture, the economy of Regina itself is based more on industrial production. Oil and gas, potash, sodium sulphate, kaolin, and bentonite, among other natural resources, are found near here; factories in the city itself have sprung up to process the raw material. Producers of agricultural equipment and fertilisers have also moved in to take advantage of the resources and of the surrounding farmland.
The University of Regina and its affiliate colleges draw in post-secondary students from around the country. The training academy of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police brings in recruits from everywhere; it is the only such training centre in Canada. The Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Science and Technology, located in the city's east end, is a highly-regarded technical school; also in Regina is the First Nations University of Canada, the nation's only university developed and run entirely by persons of Aboriginal descent.
The city's motto is "Floreat Regina"; translated, "Let Regina flourish". DylanDog informs me of the double meaning: the motto also expresses the desire that Her Majesty the Queen of England might also flourish.
"Regina" is pronounced such that it rhymes with "vagina", though oddly residents of the city do not find this amusing in the least.
Local culture
Because it is so far from larger centres -- about eight hours' driving distance to Calgary, Edmonton, or Winnipeg -- and because of the prestige that accompanies its status as a provincial capital, Regina has a number of cultural amenities that would be unexpected in any other city of comparable size.
Somewhat incongruously in light of its location in the middle of the dry western Canadian plain, Regina is remarkably green. Over three hundred thousand trees, mostly elms, have been planted by hand since the area was settled to provide respite from the monotony of dry brown grass and sagebrush. This "oasis in the prairie" in the middle of the city evolved into Wascana Park; this is one of the largest municipal parks in North America, and standing as its centrepiece is the recently-dredged Wascana Lake. The lake and the park are surrounded by and run through with walking trails and bicycle paths.
Government House was for many years the residence of Saskatchewan's Lieutenant Governor, or provincial representative of the British Crown. It has been restored and is now kept as a somewhat anachronistic Victorian-style manor house; guided tours are available at regular intervals at no cost, with high tea served on Sunday afternoons through the summer.
Regina is also home to a Globe Theatre, which runs many performances throughout the season, and the Regina Symphony Orchestra, the longest continually-operating orchestra in Canada. The orchestra is based at the Saskatchewan Centre of the Arts, a large auditorium that plays host to travelling shows and entertainers as well as serving as a convention centre.
The Saskatchewan Science Centre is near Wascana Park; it features an IMAX film theatre. Close by is the Royal Saskatchewan Museum, which contains a number of very well-done natural history exhibits including a most impressive gallery showcasing the First Nations history in the prairies and the Aboriginal experience before and after the institution of the various legislations involved with Indian affairs leading up to and following Confederation.
Regina's Canadian Football League franchise is the Saskatchewan Roughriders football club; perpetual underdogs, they have an exceedingly loyal fan base despite only rarely failing to miss the Grey Cup playoffs. Regina also has a Western Hockey League team: the Regina Pats, who play at the Agridome.
Early history
Regina began as a farming community in the late 1800s, once settlers had begun to drift to the west. It was originally named "Pile o' Bones" after the buffalo bones left in the area by First Nations hunters; later, in honour of Queen Victoria, it was renamed Regina, leading to its nickname (and another inexplicable "selling point" of the city as viewed by city council), the "Queen City".
The first settlers arrived in 1882; shortly thereafter the headquarters of the North-West Mounted Police were constructed in the townsite. The Canadian Pacific Railway, under construction at the time, arrived in Regina in 1883, which caused a massive influx of settlers from the East and immigrants from Europe and the United States, who were sold homestead plots for the pittance of $10 each. It was also 1883 that saw Regina be named the capital city of the Northwest Territories, which land area was larger than modern-day Europe.
Growing quickly, Regina was incorporated as a city in 1903 and declared the capital of the province of Saskatchewan in 1905 when the province was created. The Saskatchewan Legislative Assembly was built in 1910; the small creek that passed in front of it, widening slightly to make a reservoir, was dammed to form a lake, a formal garden and a number of trees were planted, and the Legislature and the lake became the focus of an expansive urban park.
Drought and a number of years of poor crops slowed Regina's development in the 1910s through to the 1920s. In 1912 a cyclone destroyed much of the downtown area; this proved a major setback as rebuilding had to take place but no-one could afford it.
The Great Depression and the Regina Riot
The Depression hit Regina with as much force as everywhere else in the prairies. Hundreds or thousands of people, many of them farmhands, were rendered jobless as crops withered into nothing and dust storms took off the topsoil, leaving farmland all but infertile. Ostensibly for city beautification but really to combat unemployment, the provincial government called for the dredging and expansion of Wascana Lake. This kept hundreds of farm workers in paid employment, deepening and widening the lake by hand, to stave off the worst of the crisis.
Meanwhile, by 1935 much of western Canada was tired of the federal government's ineffectual aid programmes. On June 3 and 4 of that year, about 1300 men in Vancouver departed on eastbound trains; "riding the rails on to Ottawa", they were going to demand that the government give them work.
By order of the Prime Minister, the "On-to-Ottawa Trek" was forced to stop in Regina on July 1. By this time their numbers had swelled to 1800, and they were not pleased about being held up. Armed RCMP officers met the trains when they stopped; in the three hours of conflict that ensued, one officer was killed and 80 people were injured. This was the now-infamous "Regina riot"; it served as a reminder to Ottawa that Westerners would not stand for being ignored by their government.
As the Great Depression ran its course, Regina saw the emergence of a new political voice: Tommy Douglas, elected to Parliament in 1935, and his Co-operative Commonwealth Federation party were the first socialist politicians to be elected to the House of Commons. This as well as the development of a system of co-operatives to help farmers and others during the Depression created socialist sympathies in the city; even today, Regina as a whole is unexpectedly left-wing.
City growth has been slow but steady in the years following the Great Depression. Currently, it serves as a cultural centre for the prairies, offering amenities not found anywhere else in the province. As a resident, it is all but guaranteed that one will feel the insatiable desire to leave as soon as possible; as a tourist, Regina is a nice place to visit, but not one at which to linger.
Sources:
http://www.cityregina.com/
http://www.tourismregina.com/
http://collections.ic.gc.ca/regina/cat2_events0.htm
http://www.sfn.saskatoon.sk.ca/business/cupe1975/burs5.html