Saskatchewan is a province in the middle of Canada — one of the big parts the country is split into, like a state, but the Canadian word is province. It sits on wide, mostly flat grassland, and it shares a border with two US states: Montana and North Dakota. People often shorten the name to “Sask” in casual talk. The capital is Regina; the biggest city is Saskatoon. Winters are long and very cold, and wheat farming is a big part of how people picture the place. The name is not an English invention: it comes from a Cree name for the river that runs through the land, meaning “swift-flowing river.” The province was named after that river.