Kandahar is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

in Rural Municipality of Big Quill No. 308, Saskatchewan, Canada. Listed as a

designated place A designated place (DPL) is a type of community or settlement identified by Statistics Canada that does not meet the criteria used to define municipalities or population centres. DPLs are delineated every 5 years for the Canadian census as the sta ...

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the hamlet had a population of 20 in the

Canada 2016 Census The 2016 Canadian census was an enumeration of Canadian residents, which counted a population of 35,151,728, a change from its 2011 population of 33,476,688. The census, conducted by Statistics Canada, was Canada's seventh quinquennial census ...

. Located on

Highway 16 Route 16, or Highway 16, can refer to: International * Asian Highway 16 * European route E16 * European route E016 Australia - Thompsons Road (Victoria) - South Australia Canada ;Parts of the Trans-Canada Highway: *Yellowhead Hi ...

near

Wynyard, Saskatchewan Wynyard is a town in eastern Saskatchewan, Canada, 132 km west of Yorkton and 190 km east of Saskatoon. Wynyard is in but not part of the rural municipality of Big Quill No. 308. It is located on the Yellowhead Highway just south of ...

, the community was named by

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway (french: Chemin de fer Canadien Pacifique) , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadi ...

executives in the late 19th century for a British military victory in

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a List of cities in Afghanistan, city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The hamlet is too small to be enumerated on its own, so its population belongs to the Rural Municipality of Big Quill No. 308. It is located near the south shore of Big Quill Lake, the largest inland body of salt water in Canada.

History

Many of the first settlers in the Kandahar district were immigrants from

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

or of Icelandic descent. A significant number arrived from the Argyle settlement in

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. An

ic immigrant, Thorvidur Halldorson (born Þorviður Magnússon), served as the district's first postmaster in 1910. From 1910 to 1913, the spelling of the post office was ''Candahar''. Kandahar became a village in 1913, following a petition from its inhabitants. In 1925, Kandahar was listed as a Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. Station on the Minnedosa, Saskatoon, Edmonton Section, CPR. Businesses included a printing press, ''Prentsmiðja A. Helgasonar'', run by Andres Helgason (1867-1939), who was a skilled bookbinder and printer. The one room school house was named Kandahar School District #3333. Until the 1970s, Kandahar was a thriving

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

with various stores and attractions, including a popular steak house. However, in the late 1980s the village's only school closed, and the population has steadily decreased since.

Demographics

In the

2021 Census of Population The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...

conducted by

, Kandahar had a population of 10 living in 6 of its 8 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 20. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.

References

{{authority control Big Quill No. 308, Saskatchewan Designated places in Saskatchewan Organized hamlets in Saskatchewan Icelandic settlements in Saskatchewan Division No. 10, Saskatchewan

History

Demographics

See also

References