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Gimli is a rural municipality in south-central Manitoba, Canada. It is located on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg, about seventy-five kilometres north of the provincial capital Winnipeg, and close to the small town of Fraserwood.
The town (population 5,797 Statistics Canada 2006 census) and surrounding area constitute an Icelandic ethnic block settlement, and are home to the largest Icelandic Canadian population outside of Iceland, a fact which gives the town its nickname “The Capital of New Iceland.”
The Icelandic settlers arrived in 1875 naming the town “Gimli” after the word “Paradise” from Norse mythology. Many immigrants from Germany, Ukraine, Hungary, Poland and other countries also settled in Gimli.