Mining is also a major industry in the province, with Saskatchewan being the world leader in potash and uranium exports.
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°, adjacent to the southern shore of Lake Athabasca.
The region that is today the state of Colorado has been inhabited by Native Americans for more than 13 millennia.
Saskatchewan is home to two prominent spas, ten provincial historical parks, and seven main national historical sites.
Numerous smaller political parties also run candidates in provincial elections, including the Liberal Party, the Green Party, and the Progressive Conservative Party, but none is currently represented in the Legislative Assembly of Saskatchewan.
Saskatchewan has the distinction of being the only Canadian province for which no borders correspond to physical geographic features.
Saskatchewan has the highest rate of growth in greenhouse gas emissions in Canada.
Oil and natural gas production is also a very important part of Saskatchewan's economy, although the oil industry is larger.
From a great scale, Saskatchewan appears to be somewhat a quadrilateral.
Saskatchewan is bounded on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, and on the south by the U.S. states of Montana and North Dakota.
The Satan which appears in fiction and popular culture is mostly influenced by the Christian conceptions of the devil and other evil forces.
The number of one-room schoolhouse districts across Saskatchewan totaled approximately 5,000 at the height of the one-room school house educational system in the late 1940s.
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.
In 1885, post-Confederation Canada's first "naval battle" was fought in Saskatchewan, when a steamship engaged the Mйtis ("mixed," referring to natives who intermarried with Europeans) at Batoche in the North-West Rebellion.
The northern parts of Saskatchewan —from about La Ronge northward —have a subarctic climate.
Saskatchewan's economy is associated with agriculture; however, increasing diversification has meant that now agriculture, forestry, fishing, and hunting together make up only 6.8 percent of the province's Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Saskatchewan contains two major natural regions: the Canadian Shield in the north and the Interior Plains in the south.
The Canadian government decided that Walsh's friendship with Sitting Bull was an obstacle to the Sioux's return to the United States, and in 1880 he was transferred to Fort Qu'Appelle, Saskatchewan.
The Saskatchewan Roughriders are the province's only major professional sports franchise (Canadian Football League) and are extremely popular across Saskatchewan.
Major Saskatchewan-based Crown corporations are Saskatchewan Government Insurance (SGI), SaskTel, SaskEnergy (the province's main supplier of natural gas), and SaskPower.
The province's name comes from the Saskatchewan River, whose name comes from its Cree designation: kisisk_ciwani-s_piy, meaning "swift flowing river."
Saskatoon, Saskatchewan's largest city, led the nation in GDP growth among Canadian cities in 2008 with a 5.4 percent increase according to the Conference Board of Canada metropolitan outlook report, released in January 2009.
Under his Cooperative Commonwealth Federation government, Saskatchewan became the first province to have Medicare.
Saskatchewan is a prairie province in Canada, with an area of 227,134.67 square miles (588,276.09 sq.
Along with the Saskatchewan Western Development Museums, there are over 200 local pioneer heritage museums.
Southern Saskatchewan contains another area with sand dunes known as the "Great Sand Hills" covering over 300 square kilometers (120 sq mi).
Saskatchewan has the same form of government as the other Canadian provinces with a lieutenant-governor (who represents the monarchy in Saskatchewan), premier, and a unicameral legislature.
The North-West Mounted Police set up several posts and forts across Saskatchewan, including Fort Walsh in the Cypress Hills and Wood Mountain Post in south-central Saskatchewan near the U.S. border.
After 16 years of New Democratic governments under premiers Roy Romanow and Lorne Calvert, the recent 2007 provincial election was won by the Saskatchewan Party under Brad Wall.
The first European to enter Saskatchewan was Henry Kelsey in 1690, who traveled up the Saskatchewan River in hopes of trading for fur.
Prior to European settlement, Saskatchewan was populated by various indigenous peoples, including members of the Athabaskan, Algonquian, Atsina, Cree, Saulteaux, and Sioux tribes.
A report on international export sales showed Saskatchewan exports were up 63.8 percent in November 2008 over the previous year.
Museums, dinosaur digs, aboriginal cultural and heritage sites, art galleries, professional sport venues, spas, handcraft, antique and tea shops, agricultural tours, live theaters, and archaeological sites comprise over 600 varied Saskatchewan institutions.
The government is also engaged in a 16-year, $24.6-million project to reclaim 37 abandoned uranium mine and mill sites in northern Saskatchewan.
Provincial politics in Saskatchewan is dominated by the New Democrats and the Saskatchewan Party.