Regina is the capital of Saskatchewan and the 16th largest city in Canada with a population of 226,404 (Source: 2021 Census Profile for Regina Census Subdivision). Regina is located in the south central area of the province. The city covers an area of 182.42 square kilometers. It is in the middle of the Prairie Provinces with Alberta to the west, and Manitoba to the east. It borders the American states of Montana and North Dakota. Latitude: 50 degrees 26 min north Longitude: 104 degrees 40 min west Elevation: 577 m above sea level.
Regina is located on Treaty 4 land and within the traditional territory of the Metis.
Indigenous people have lived in this region through many thousands of years. This area was one of the important places where Indigenous people would come to hunt the roaming herds of bison. They began to stack the long bison bones into large piles in an effort to honour the animals’ spirit as the bison herds were becoming depleted due to overhunting by non-Indigenous hunters. Indigenous peoples named the area oskana ka-asast?ki, which roughly translates to “bone piles”. European explorers, fur traders and settlers translated this to Pile of Bones.
European settlement began in the 1880s as an agricultural community and served as a distribution point for farm materials and produce. As the settlement grew and became established, it was renamed Regina (latin for “queen”) after Queen Victoria, who was the British monarch at the time.
Regina became a city in 1903. Two years later, Saskatchewan became a province and chose Regina as its capital. Today, this diverse and vibrant community is one of Canada’s fastest growing major cities.