Maps of the 100th Meridian – Topo Map of the Week

Last week I was lucky enough to have scored great tickets to see the Tragically Hip at the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.

As you can see from this photo, Gord Downey decided to join the crowd not too far from yours truly!

No Hip concert would be complete without a performance of At the Hundredth Meridian which got me thinking — hmmm, what exactly IS at the 100th meridian anyway?

As it turns out – the 100th meridian provides an amazing cross-section of Canadiana as you can see from the maps below.

Topographic Overview

The 100th meridian roughly bi-sects Canada. It traverses the Province of Manitoba in the south and the Territory of Nunavut in the north. Beginning at the Canada – USA border, the terrain switches significantly from lake country, to plains, to Canadian Shield and finally to permafrost as we traverse Nunavut into the Arctic Ocean.

Not surprisingly, only the southern 200 km have population of any significance. The other 2000 km is almost exclusively beautiful Canadian wilderness.

For the non geographers – this map shows the effects of projection that can have a significant distortion on your map. In this case, MapSherpa uses a spherical mercator projection that allows for true north to always be at the top of the map, and preserves relative east-west and north-south directions. This is great for local topographic maps that are generated within the MapSherpa system, but results in a heavily distorted full map of Canada.

Maps of Southern Manitoba

The southern populated portion of the 100th meridian are found in Manitoba. The border region with the USA is thick with thousands of small lakes as you can see in the map below:

Just north of the lakes region, the 100th meridian traverses the eastern portion of Canada’s Great Plains. This is easily distinguished by the grid pattern of the road network – (and not many countour lines!) – found throughout the plains.

Map of Brandon, Manitoba

The only significant urban centre that falls along the 100th meridian is Brandon, Manitoba. Brandon has a population of just over 50,000  and was established as a junction of the Canadian Pacific Railroad and the Assiniboine River – the only major river that crosses the 100th meridian.

Map of Riding Mountain National Park

The 100th meridian also falls along Riding Mountain National Park – one of Canada’s forty two National Parks. The park offers an extensive assortment of outdoor activities for it’s visitors.

Map of Lake Winnipegosis

Heading north, the first large lake that intersects the 100th meridian is Lake Winnipegosis. This also marks the transition region from the flat plains of the south and the Canadian shield throughout the north of the province.

In addition to Lake Winnipegosis, a couple of other significant lakes intersect the 100th meridian including Clear Lake and Nueltin Lake which also intersects with the Manitoba – Nunavut border.

Maps of Nunavut

The final region along the 100th meridian as we head further north is the permafrost of the Arctic. This rugged country is a mix of wetlands, lakes, and a glacier in the far north as we cross the arctic circle north of the treeline.

Create your own Topographic Maps along the 100th Meridian with MapSherpa. Simply search for your favourite location with the search function in the upper left corner of the map making application.