Alberta (Al-bur-tuh), province (255,285 sq mi/ 661,188 sq km, including 6,485 sq mi/16,796 sq km of water surface; 1991 pop. 2,545,553), W Canada, Edmonton, 2d-largest city; 55°00'N 115°00'W. The largest city is Calgary; other important cities are Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, and Fort McMurray. Alberta is bounded on the E by Sask.; on the N by Fort Smith Region, N.W.T.; on the W by B.C.; and on the S by Mont. Westernmost of the Prairie provs., it lies on a high plateau, rising on the W to the Continental Divide at the B.C. border. There are the foothills of the Rocky Mts. and the spectacular mountains themselves, with 3 noted natl. parks—Jasper, Banff, and Waterton Lakes (the Can. sect. of Waterton-Glacier Internatl. Peace Park). Although Alta. is known as a Prairie prov., only about 1/4 of its area is actually treeless—chiefly the undulating prairie of S Alta. Central Alta. has parklike, partly wooded country, and the N stretches bear thousands of acres of virgin timberland. Endowed with many lakes, streams, and rivers, the prov. is drained by the Peace, the Athabasca, the N and S branches of the Sask., the Red Deer, the St. Mary, the Milk, and many other rivers. The pop. is concentrated in S and central Alta., and except for farm centers in the fertile valley of the Peace, the N portion is sparsely settled. Agr. remains an important part of Alta.’s economy. Grain, especially wheat, is the dominant crop. In the S, large irrigation developments, such as those around Lethbridge, have placed thousands of additional acres under cultivation. A variety of crops, such as sugar beets and potatoes, are grown in this area. The prov. is noted as well for the quality of its livestock. Meat-packing, flour milling, dairying, and food processing are important industries. But Alta.’s major industry, since the early 1960s, has been the exploitation of its vast petroleum and other mineral resources. Alta.’s coal beds contain about 1/2 of Canada’s reserves, while the prov. leads the country in the production of oil; it is believed to have potentially the richest oil deposits in the world, most notably in the famous tar beds of the Athabasca R. Alta. provided 82% of Canada’s crude petroleum output in 1988. Its sources of natural gas are also among the world’s greatest. Pipelines radiate from Alta., carrying crude oil and natural gas to points in E and W Canada and into the United States. The production of crude oil decreased slightly in the 1980s, while the production of natural gas and coal increased. Construction, traditionally a booming industry in Alta., was severely weakened by the decline in oil production, leading to increased unemployment. Other industries include food and beverage production, lumbering, printing and publishing, and the mfg. of iron, steel, and clay prods. Tourism is the 3d-largest segment of Alta.’s industrial economy. Many visitors are drawn by the grand scale of Alta.’s landscape—its mt. scenery, rolling wheat fields, huge granaries, sprawling cattle ranches, and vast oil refineries. Annual festivals include the Indian Days Celebration at Banff, which attracts thousands of Native Americans from a wide area, and the famous Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. Other tourist attractions are Elk Island Natl. Park and the extensive Wood Buffalo Natl. Park, which shelters some 5,000 bison. In terms of special events, Edmonton hosted the Commonwealth Games (1978) and the World Univ. Games (1983), and Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics. Alta. was originally part of the territory granted to the Hudson’s Bay Co. by King Charles II in 1670, and its early history was dominated by the fur trade. The first European known to have reached (1754) present-day Alta. was Anthony Hendon of the Hudson’s Bay Co. There was also much exploration of the region by the Montreal-based North West Co., which merged with the Hudson’s Bay Co. in 1821. Traders arrived from the upper Great Lakes before Sir Alexander Mackenzie crossed (1793) the region on his way to the Pacific. In 1794 a Hudson’s Bay Co. fort was built at the site of present-day Edmonton. Destroyed by Native Americans in 1807, it was rebuilt 12 years later, and for 50 years it served traders and missionaries within a wide radius. The area remained under the control of the Hudson’s Bay Co. until 1870 when it was sold, as part of the company’s vast domain, to the newly created confederation of Canada. In 1874 the NW Mounted Police established Fort Macleod in S Alta., and the following year they built a log fort on the site of present-day Calgary. An act of 1882 created four administrative divisions from the N.W.T., and one was named Alta. in honor of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, whose husband was then governor general of Canada. The RR came through in the mid-1880s, opening up the area to ranchers and homesteaders, but settlement was slow. In 1891 there were only 14,500 non-native settlers in the present prov. To settle the vast fertile land, the Can. govt. advertised for immigrants, offering many free acres as inducements. Within the next 5 years immigrants poured in due to the federal govt’s vigorous immigration policy, the decrease of available arable land in the Amer. West, the introduction of a new strain of fast-maturing hard spring wheat, and the easing of the 22-year long depression endured by N. Amer. The city of Edmonton boomed during the 1898 Klondike gold rush, serving as a supply base, and its growth continued during the early 1900s as immigrants began settling the rich surrounding farmlands. Alta. became a prov. in 1905. The discovery (1914) of oil in quantity at Turner Valley, near Calgary, presaged a new era for the mineral-rich prov., but it was not until 1947, when oil was found in the Leduc fields near Edmonton, that the basic change in Alta.’s economy began. By then agr. had suffered extensively: the 1929 crash, followed by droughts, early frosts, grasshopper plagues, and dust storms, had triggered emigration from the area.
Capital city or county seat is shown by the symbol
Edmonton, 2d-largest city; 55°00'N 115°00'W. The largest city is Calgary; other important cities are Lethbridge, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, St. Albert, and Fort McMurray. Alberta is bounded on the E by Sask.; on the N by Fort Smith Region, N.W.T.; on the W by B.C.; and on the S by Mont. Westernmost of the Prairie provs., it lies on a high plateau, rising on the W to the Continental Divide at the B.C. border. There are the foothills of the Rocky Mts. and the spectacular mountains themselves, with 3 noted natl. parks—Jasper, Banff, and Waterton Lakes (the Can. sect. of Waterton-Glacier Internatl. Peace Park). Although Alta. is known as a Prairie prov., only about 1/4 of its area is actually treeless—chiefly the undulating prairie of S Alta. Central Alta. has parklike, partly wooded country, and the N stretches bear thousands of acres of virgin timberland. Endowed with many lakes, streams, and rivers, the prov. is drained by the Peace, the Athabasca, the N and S branches of the Sask., the Red Deer, the St. Mary, the Milk, and many other rivers. The pop. is concentrated in S and central Alta., and except for farm centers in the fertile valley of the Peace, the N portion is sparsely settled. Agr. remains an important part of Alta.’s economy. Grain, especially wheat, is the dominant crop. In the S, large irrigation developments, such as those around Lethbridge, have placed thousands of additional acres under cultivation. A variety of crops, such as sugar beets and potatoes, are grown in this area. The prov. is noted as well for the quality of its livestock. Meat-packing, flour milling, dairying, and food processing are important industries. But Alta.’s major industry, since the early 1960s, has been the exploitation of its vast petroleum and other mineral resources. Alta.’s coal beds contain about 1/2 of Canada’s reserves, while the prov. leads the country in the production of oil; it is believed to have potentially the richest oil deposits in the world, most notably in the famous tar beds of the Athabasca R. Alta. provided 82% of Canada’s crude petroleum output in 1988. Its sources of natural gas are also among the world’s greatest. Pipelines radiate from Alta., carrying crude oil and natural gas to points in E and W Canada and into the United States. The production of crude oil decreased slightly in the 1980s, while the production of natural gas and coal increased. Construction, traditionally a booming industry in Alta., was severely weakened by the decline in oil production, leading to increased unemployment. Other industries include food and beverage production, lumbering, printing and publishing, and the mfg. of iron, steel, and clay prods. Tourism is the 3d-largest segment of Alta.’s industrial economy. Many visitors are drawn by the grand scale of Alta.’s landscape—its mt. scenery, rolling wheat fields, huge granaries, sprawling cattle ranches, and vast oil refineries. Annual festivals include the Indian Days Celebration at Banff, which attracts thousands of Native Americans from a wide area, and the famous Calgary Exhibition and Stampede. Other tourist attractions are Elk Island Natl. Park and the extensive Wood Buffalo Natl. Park, which shelters some 5,000 bison. In terms of special events, Edmonton hosted the Commonwealth Games (1978) and the World Univ. Games (1983), and Calgary hosted the 1988 Winter Olympics. Alta. was originally part of the territory granted to the Hudson’s Bay Co. by King Charles II in 1670, and its early history was dominated by the fur trade. The first European known to have reached (1754) present-day Alta. was Anthony Hendon of the Hudson’s Bay Co. There was also much exploration of the region by the Montreal-based North West Co., which merged with the Hudson’s Bay Co. in 1821. Traders arrived from the upper Great Lakes before Sir Alexander Mackenzie crossed (1793) the region on his way to the Pacific. In 1794 a Hudson’s Bay Co. fort was built at the site of present-day Edmonton. Destroyed by Native Americans in 1807, it was rebuilt 12 years later, and for 50 years it served traders and missionaries within a wide radius. The area remained under the control of the Hudson’s Bay Co. until 1870 when it was sold, as part of the company’s vast domain, to the newly created confederation of Canada. In 1874 the NW Mounted Police established Fort Macleod in S Alta., and the following year they built a log fort on the site of present-day Calgary. An act of 1882 created four administrative divisions from the N.W.T., and one was named Alta. in honor of Queen Victoria’s daughter, Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, whose husband was then governor general of Canada. The RR came through in the mid-1880s, opening up the area to ranchers and homesteaders, but settlement was slow. In 1891 there were only 14,500 non-native settlers in the present prov. To settle the vast fertile land, the Can. govt. advertised for immigrants, offering many free acres as inducements. Within the next 5 years immigrants poured in due to the federal govt’s vigorous immigration policy, the decrease of available arable land in the Amer. West, the introduction of a new strain of fast-maturing hard spring wheat, and the easing of the 22-year long depression endured by N. Amer. The city of Edmonton boomed during the 1898 Klondike gold rush, serving as a supply base, and its growth continued during the early 1900s as immigrants began settling the rich surrounding farmlands. Alta. became a prov. in 1905. The discovery (1914) of oil in quantity at Turner Valley, near Calgary, presaged a new era for the mineral-rich prov., but it was not until 1947, when oil was found in the Leduc fields near Edmonton, that the basic change in Alta.’s economy began. By then agr. had suffered extensively: the 1929 crash, followed by droughts, early frosts, grasshopper plagues, and dust storms, had triggered emigration from the area.
