Regina

City (pop., 2001: 178,225), capital of Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on the Wascana Creek in the south-central part of the province. Regina originated as a hunting camp and was known as Pile O'Bones for the heaps of bones left there after skinning and cutting buffalo. It was the administrative headquarters of the Northwest Territories 1882–1905, then it became the provincial capital. It was the headquarters of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police until 1920. After World War II the city expanded rapidly to become an important transportation, manufacturing, and distributing centre for a vast agricultural area. Local mineral resources and fertile prairies support an economy based largely on oil, natural gas, potash refining, and food processing.