| Virden | |
| Official Name: | Town of Virden |
| Settlement Type: | Town |
| Pushpin Map: | Manitoba |
| Pushpin Label Position: | right |
| Pushpin Map Caption: | Location in Manitoba |
| Coordinates: | 49.8508°N -100.9317°W |
| Subdivision Type: | Country |
| Subdivision Name: | Canada |
| Subdivision Type1: | Province |
| Subdivision Name1: | Manitoba |
| Leader Title: | Mayor |
| Leader Name: | Tina Williams |
| Leader Title1: | MLA |
| Leader Name1: | Doyle Piwniuk (PC) |
| Leader Title2: | MP |
| Leader Name2: | Larry Maguire (C) |
| Unit Pref: | Metric |
| Area Total Km2: | 8.96 |
| Elevation Footnotes: | (at airport) |
| Elevation M: | 439 |
| Population Footnotes: | [1] |
| Population Total: | 3,118 |
| Population As Of: | 2021 |
| Population Density Km2: | auto |
| Timezone: | CST |
| Utc Offset: | −5 |
| Postal Code Type: | Postal code |
| Postal Code: | R0M 2C0 |
| Area Code: | 204, 431 |
| Blank Name: | Telephone Exchange |
| Blank Info: | 204 491 512 707 718 748 851 431 645 |
| Blank1 Name: | Median Income |
| Blank1 Info: | $46,604 |
Virden is a town in southwestern Manitoba, Canada. Oil was first discovered in 1951, and Virden has since come to be known as the "Oil Capital of Manitoba".
Virden has its roots as a farming community known as Gopher Creek. However, it became a railway tent town in 1882, and grew in population due to the brick and flour industry, as well as with the discovery of oil in the 1950s. The origin of the name, Virden, allegedly arose as a misspelling of the German town Verden in the homeland of the 7th Duke of Manchester's wife, Louisa Cavendish, Duchess of Devonshire.
The town is located at the junction of the Trans-Canada Highway (also known as Highway #1) and Highway 83 (the "Palms to Pines" route) and is surrounded by the Rural Municipality of Wallace – Woodworth. Virden is a regional service centre owing in part to its location, and it has a stable commercial sector, including several restaurants, gas stations, body shops, a movie theatre, and a performing arts theatre.
In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Virden had a population of 3,118 living in 1,401 of its 1,508 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 3,322. With a land area of, it had a population density of in 2021.[1]
In 2011, the median age was 42.7 years old which is 2 years older than the national average at 40.6 years old. There were 1,446 dwellings in Virden with an occupancy rate of 95.1%, and the median cost of a dwelling at $159,748, more than $100,000 lower than the national average at $280,552.
According to the 2011 National Household Survey, 96.8% of Virden residents are Canadian citizens, and about 3.2% of residents are recent immigrants (from 2001 to 2011). The racial make up of Virden is mostly Caucasian (92.0%), with a moderate Aboriginal population (5.5%); First Nations (2.0%), Métis (3.5%), and a small visible minority population (2.7%), most of which are Filipino (2.0%) or multiracial (0.5%).
Known as the "Victorian Home on the Prairies", the Virden Pioneer Home Museum is located within a red brick veneer home built by James Frame in 1888. With an extensive collection of over eleven thousand donated artifacts relating to Virden and area, the museum is a must-see tourist destination. It is open May to September where guided tours are offered by knowledgeable guides. The museum is located at 390 King Street West in Virden.