Regina (“ruh-JY-nuh”) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. The city is the second-largest in the province and a cultural and commercial centre for southern Saskatchewan. It is governed by Regina City Council. Regina is the cathedral city of the Roman Catholic and Romanian Orthodox Dioceses of Regina and the Anglican Diocese of Qu’Appelle. Citizens of Regina are referred to as Reginans. The city is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Sherwood No. 159. In 2012, Regina was named the fifth best Canadian city to live in by MoneySense magazine.
Regina was previously the seat of government of the North-West Territories, of which the current provinces of Saskatchewan and Alberta originally formed part, and of the District of Assiniboia. It was named in 1882 after Queen Victoria, Victoria Regina, by her daughter Princess Louise, wife of the Marquess of Lorne, then the Governor General of Canada.
Unlike other planned cities in the Canadian West, on its treeless flat plain Regina had few topographical features other than the small spring run-off Wascana Creek. Early planners took advantage of such opportunity by damming the creek to create a decorative lake to the south of the central business district with a dam a blo