Melita is a town located in the southwestern corner of the Canadian province of Manitoba. It is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Arthur and occupies a bend of the Souris River. The population at the 2011 census was 1,069. It sits at the junction of Highways 3 and 83, approx. 320 km southwest of Winnipeg. Melita is known as the "Grasslands Bird Capital of Manitoba" and is located in Manitoba's banana belt.HistoryEvidence of First Nations habitation in the area includes the Linear Mounds Archaeological Site and the Brockinton Archaeological Site, which have provided artifacts dating back to 800 A.D. The site has been designated a National Historic Site of Canada.Charles West was the first recorded European settler, in 1879. The early inhabitants chose the name "Melita" for the town after hearing a Bible reading (Acts 28:1) about St. Paul's shipwreck on the island of Malta (Melita is an older name for the island).Notable peopleBetty Fox, cancer research activist and mother of Terry Fox, was raised in Melita.