1

Divisions of a Township
9 December 2005

2

The Dominion Lands Office and Department of the Interior surveys divided the North West Territories into townships before the homesteaders came in. A township is typically 6 miles on a side and divided into 36 sections, each one mile by one mile. The sections are numbered sequentially, starting from the southeast corner.

3

Section divisions
9 December 2005

4

Sections are further split into quarter sections, or quarters. A land location is described as quarter - section - township - range - meridian. Township numbers increase to the north, while ranges increase from east to west. Ranges are measured from meridians. In the Vatnabyggd area, the meridian measured from is the Second Meridian (West second or W2) which is the first meridian west of the Prime Meridian in Manitoba. So, a land location of SE32-32-11W2 would be the southeast quarter of section 32 in township 32, range 11, west of the second meridian.

5

There are exceptions to this, and the Vatnabyggd area includes one. Four townships in the area are actually only 4 miles by six miles, and have only 24 sections which are numbered starting with 13.