Altona (Manitoba)

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Altona
Nickname : The Sunflower Capital of Canada
Location in Manitoba
Altona (Manitoba)
Altona
Altona
State : CanadaCanada Canada
Province : Manitoba
Region: Pembina Valley
Rural municipality: Rhineland
Coordinates : 49 ° 6 ′  N , 97 ° 34 ′  W Coordinates: 49 ° 6 ′  N , 97 ° 34 ′  W
Height : 249  m
Area : 9.39 km²
Residents : 4088 (as of 2011)
Population density : 435.4 inhabitants / km²
Time zone : Central Time ( UTC − 6 )
Postal code : R0G 0B0
Area code : +1 204
Foundation : 1956
Mayor : Melvin classes
Website : www.townofaltona.com

Altona [ ælˈtoʊ.nə ] is with 4,088 inhabitants (2011) a small town in the south of Manitoba , about 100 kilometers southwest of Winnipeg , and is approximately 133 kilometers north of Grand Forks in the US state of North Dakota .

history

Altona was founded in the 1870s by a group of German-speaking Mennonites who had relocated to Canada from Russia . The group chose this location because of the nutrient-rich farmland near the Red River of the North . The first farmstead in Altona was built around 1880 and is still today known as "Old Altona". The founding of the city was significantly influenced by the construction of the transcontinental railroad connection of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1882.

Around 200 people lived in Altona at the turn of the century. During the 1920s, however , the city saw a wave of Mennonites emigrating to Mexico and Paraguay , concerned about the preservation of their culture. The population increased again only a few years later due to immigrants from Russia.

After the Second World War , Altona also experienced the baby boom , as a result of which the population rose to 2,000 people by 1960.

geography

Altona is located in the Pembina Valley about 100 kilometers from the provincial capital Winnipeg at the junction of Highways 30 and 201 . The border with the US state of North Dakota is 11 km south of Altona.

politics

Mayor of the city is Melvin Klassen. After being elected for the first time in 2002, he was re-elected in the 2006 election. Klassen is married and has three children.

Others

The Sunflower Festival takes place annually in Altona . It is based on the large cultivation of sunflowers in Manitoba, which gave Altona the nickname The Sunflower Capital of Canada (German sunflower capital of Canada ). The province has a share of about 85% of the total sunflower cultivation in Canada.

Web links

Commons : Altona, Manitoba  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ↑ a b History of Altona. Official website of the city of Altona, archived from the original on August 31, 2009 ; accessed on October 11, 2015 .
  2. ^ Council of Altona. Official website of the city of Altona, accessed on September 3, 2009 (English).
  3. ^ A Century of Agriculture in Manitoba. (PDF; 842 kB) (No longer available online.) Janet Honey, Brian Oleson, archived from the original on September 10, 2008 ; accessed on September 3, 2009 .