Manitoba’s government worked to
expand the economy in the north.
..More to explore
Assiniboin • Canada • Chipewyan
• Cree • Fur Trade • Hudson Bay
• Hudson’s Bay Company • Ojibwa
A farmer in Manitoba, Canada, examines
his crop of flax.
A young polar bear makes its way across
ice on Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba.
Facts About
MANITOBA
Flag
Population
(2006 census)
1,148,401
Area
250,116 sq mi
(647,797 sq km)
Capital
Winnipeg
Motto
Gloriosus et Liber
(Glorious and
Free)
When
Manitoba
Became a
Province
1870
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Manitoba 45
Manufacturing
Manufacturing is the process of making
products, or goods. The businesses that
make products are called manufacturers.
Manufacturers sell their products to
people and companies.
Making Products
Manufacturers take raw materials and
turn them into products to sell. Raw
materials include wood, steel, cloth, and
many other materials. Using raw materials,
manufacturers make cars, electronics,
clothing, furniture, home appliances,
machinery, ships, airplanes, and
many other goods.
Manufacturers have many different ways
of making goods and doing business.
They usually use machines to make large
amounts of products. Human workers
or computers may operate these
machines. Some manufacturers sell their
products to the public. Others sell their
products to other companies.
Different companies may work together
to create a single product. For example,
a shoe manufacturer may not have the
equipment to make shoelaces. Or it may
not want to take the time to make them.
So it buys the shoelaces for its shoes
from a shoelace manufacturer.
History
Until about 200 years ago people made
most goods either at home or in small
workshops. They made products one at
a time, by hand. During the 1800s the
Industrial Revolution changed how
goods were made. Newly invented
machines could do jobs that people had
to do before. Manufacturers started to
build factories to replace small workshops.
Factories could make thousands
of products quickly and cheaply. This
caused the prices of products to fall.
People could now buy more types of
goods.
However, large numbers of people
worked for very long hours in unpleasant,
often dangerous, factories. They
made little money.Workers soon formed
labor movements to demand better
working conditions. Today factories in
many countries are safer.Workers work
fewer hours and get better pay. They also
receive benefits such as health insurance
and paid vacation time.
#More to explore
Industrial Revolution • Labor
Assembly lines are a common sight in factories.
Each worker or machine on an assembly
line does a certain task over and over
again to put products together quickly.
46 Manufacturing BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA
Maori
The Maori were the first people to live
on the islands of New Zealand. They
arrived on the islands about 1,200 years
ago. Their name means “ordinary
people.”
The earliest Maori are sometimes called
the Moa Hunters. Their main source of
food was the moa, a huge flightless bird
that is now extinct. After the moas were
gone, the Maori ate smaller birds. They
also caught fish and grew crops for
food.
The Maori were skilled artists. They
carved wooden war canoes big enough
to hold 100 people. They also excelled
in weaving.
According to Maori history, the Maori
sailed to New Zealand from a tropical
island called Hawaiki. This history says
that a “great fleet” of canoes arrived in
New Zealand in the 1300s. But experts
believe the Maori reached the islands
much earlier, by 800. Those experts
believe that “Hawaiki” was actually
Tahiti.
Dutch explorers arrived in New Zealand
in 1642. The Maori fought them and
chased them away. Later the Maori welcomed
European settlers. In 1840 the
Maori accepted British rule. Soon,
though, the Maori and the British began
fighting over land. The Maori lost much
of their land in the wars.
Today the Maori make up about 10
percent of New Zealand’s population.
Most Maori live in cities among New
Zealanders of European ancestry. Many
Maori have kept alive their language and
traditional culture. They also have
worked to regain control of their traditional
lands.
#More to explore
French Polynesia • New Zealand
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong ruled China from 1949
until 1976. He also led China’s Communist
Party. Mao brought major
changes to China. Some of these
changes led to periods of great disorder
in the country.
Early Life
Mao was born on December 26, 1893,
in the village of Shaoshan in southeastern
China. His parents were farmers. In
1911 Mao fought in a revolution against
China’s rulers. The revolution forced
China’s last emperor from power.
A Maori man greets a tourist using the traditional
Maori form of welcome.
BRITANNICA STUDENT ENCYCLOPEDIA Mao Zedong 47
While studying at Beijing University,
Mao became interested in Communism.
Communists wanted all people to own
everything together. Mao came to
believe that China should have a Communist
government. In 1921 he joined
the Chinese Communist Party.
Rise to Power
In the early 1920s the Communists
worked together with another party, the
Nationalists. In 1926, however, a new
Nationalist leader named Chiang Kaishek
