The range describes how far east or west a township lies. The township to the north of that one, which lies from 6 miles to 12 miles north of the U.S. The southern most township in Manitoba has a township number of 1. The township number describes how far north of the U.S. One township is 36 sections, as described above, but the word is also used to describe where this township is located. The rest of the sections snake their way north, ending with section number 36 at the northeast corner. The first section is at the southeast corner, and the second lies directly to it's west. The 36 sections in each township are numbered in a specific order. A group of 36 sections, which takes up a square piece of land 6 miles by 6 miles in size, makes up one township. These two letters are the first piece of information in a section-township-range designation.Ī section is a piece of land one mile by one mile square.

This is a true north-south line near Winnipeg, chosen in 1869, at what was considered to be the western limit of settlementĮach section is divided up into 4 quarters: the Northwest (NW), Northeast (NE), Southeast (SE), and Southwest (SW) quarter.

The location of each township is described as being east or west of the Principal Meridian. When western Canada was first surveyed, it was divided into six mile by six mile blocks called townships. Section numbers are 1-square mile plots of land as defined by the Dominion Land Survey in the 1800's.

What is township and range system