Alberta

Alberta, the westernmost of Canada's three prairie provinces, shares many physical features with its neighbours to the east, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. The Rocky Mountains form the southern portion of Alberta's western boundary with British Columbia.

Alberta
Flag
Capital	Edmonton
Largest City	Calgary
Official Languages	English
Area	661,848 km2 (Ranked 6th)
Population (2009)	3,724,832 (est.) (Ranked 4th)
GDP per capita	C$81,000 (Ranked 2nd)
Abbreviation	AB
Web Site	www.alberta.ca

The province is called Sunny Alberta because it has more hours of sunshine a year than any other province. Alberta entered the Dominion with Saskatchewan on September 1, 1905, as the eighth and ninth provinces. With its extensive, fertile prairie lands, Alberta long had an economy dominated by agriculture. Since the 1950s, however, mineral extraction has become a leading sector of the economy. Alberta is now Canada's largest producer of the wife of a Canadian governor-general and a daughter of Queen Victoria. Ralph Klein has eliminated the province's deficit since he took office, at considerable cost to its social safety net. Calgary, a city quite similar to Denver, is home to the annual Calgary Stampede. Other sites not to miss in Alberta include the West Edmonton Mall with its 800 stores, 19 movie theatres, 110 eateries, and a full sized hockey rink; Canada Olympic Park which hosted the 1988 Winter Olympic Games; and the series of national parks along its western borders collectively known as the Rocky Mountain Range National Park System.

• Immigration to Alberta
• Jobs in Alberta
• Alberta Universities and Colleges

Alberta Facts

• Alberta is one of the three prairie provinces. 
• It is the fourth largest province.
• Saskatchewan is east of Alberta; British Columbia is west.
• The Northwest Territories are north of Alberta.
• The state of Montana is south.
• Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
• Edmonton (capital city) and Calgary are the largest cities. 
• Alberta's flower - Wild Rose, tree - Lodgepole Pine, bird - Great Horned Owl, mammal - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep 
• Alberta's motto - "strong and free".
• It is known as Canada's "energy province".
  

The People

• Alberta is home to over 3.7 million people(2009).
• The largest cities are Edmonton (capital) and Calgary.
• More than half of the people live in these two cities.
• Immigrants came from Britain, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the East and Southeast Asia.
• Ethnic backgrounds - British (44 percent), German, Ukrainian, French, Scandinavian, Dutch, and many other countries

History

• The first people settled in the area about 8000 years ago. 
• In the woodland areas the Woodland Cree and Chipewyan tribes hunted moose, caribou and deer, fished and gathered plants and berries.
• They used bark canoes to travel up and down the streams.
• On the plains the Blackfoot, Blood, and Peigan hunted the bison and lived in tipis.
• Anthony Henday ( European explorer and fur trader ) came to Alberta in 1754.
• Fur traders built trading posts on the Athabasca River and North Saskatchewan River.
• Forts were built to keep law and order.
• The First Nations traded furs and received guns, blankets and metal goods. 
• In 1874 The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) established their first post in Alberta at Fort Macleod.
• Alberta grew when the railroad was built in 1883.
• Early settlers were ranchers from England and the United States.
• Immigrants came from Ukraine, Germany, Romania and many parts of Europe to farm.
• Alberta became a province on September 1, 1905.

Land and Water

• The main rivers are the Peace River, North and South Saskatchewan River, and Athabasca River.
• There are icefields in Banff and Jasper National Parks.
• The icefields help to fill the rivers.
• There are five national parks.
• Banff National Park is the oldest national park in Canada.
• Wood Buffalo National Park is the home to about 2200 wood buffalo (endangered).
• A large mountain range ( Rocky Mountains ) is along the western border. 
• The badlands ( dry, sandy, rocky area) are in southeastern Alberta.
• Northern Alberta is covered with forest and muskeg.
• The rest of the province is on a great plain or prairie.

Climate

• The foothills receive the most rainfall.
• Warm, dry "chinook" winds are produced when air funnels through the Rockies.
• Chinook winds sweep down on southern Alberta and raise temperatures in the winter.
• Cold arctic air masses bring cool weather in the winter. 

Resources

• Alberta has oil, natural gas, and coal.
• Oil was discovered at Leduc (near Edmonton) in 1947.
• It is the main producer of coal in Canada. 
• Coal was first mined near Lethbridge in 1872.
• The province is also the main producer of oil and natural gas in Canada.
• Alberta sells the oil, natural gas and coal to other provinces and other countries.
• There is also sulfur, silica sand, potash, quartz, thick salt deposits, clay and limestone. 
• Forests cover over half of Alberta.
• There is good soil for growing crops like oats, canola and barley.
• The main crop is wheat. Alberta is the second largest producer of wheat in Canada.
• Alberta is the only province to produce sugar from sugar beets. 
• There are many dairy farms and cattle ranches.
• There are also poultry, hog and sheep farms.
  
• Most of the beef cattle in Canada are raised on ranches in the southern foothills.

People and Places

• The mountain scenery of Banff and Jasper national parks attracts thousands of tourists.
• Calgary stampede has bull riding, calf roping and wagon racing. 
• Dinosaur Provincial Park is in the badlands.
• Historical sites include Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Rocky Mountain House (fur trade) and the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.
• A 9 m. high Ukranian Easter egg is displayed at Vegreville, east of Edmonton.
• Figure skater Kurt Browning (born in Caroline, Alberta) won four World Championships.
• Tantoo Cardinal (born in Fort McMurray) is a Canadian film and television actress.