-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.
-Emblems: floral - Wild Rose, tree - Lodgepole Pine, bird - Great Horned Owl, mammal - Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
-motto - "strong and free".
-Alberta is known as Canada's "energy province".
THE PEOPLE
-Alberta is home to over 4,067,175 people.(May 2016)
-The largest cities are Edmonton (capital) and Calgary.
-Over half of Albertans live in these two cities.
-Immigrants came from Britain, Western Europe, Eastern Europe,
the East and Southeast Asia.
-Ethnic origins : British (44 percent), German, Ukrainian, French, Aboriginal,
Scandinavian, Dutch, Polish, Chinese and many other countries
-About one-half of the Aboriginal population resides in urban areas.
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, Jasper, Elk Island, Waterton Lakes, Wood Buffalo)
-Banff National Park is the oldest national park in Canada.
-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 forests and muskeg.
-The rest of the province is on a great plain or prairie.
-Forests cover more than half of the province.
-The highest point is Mt.Columbia (3747 metres).
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 70 per cent of Canada's coal reserves.
-Coal was first mined near Lethbridge in 1872.
-There are nine major coal mines in the province.
-The province is also the main producer of oil and natural gas in Canada.
-Alberta has the world's second largest oil reserves.
-Most of the oil reserves are found in Alberta's oil sands.
-The province is the world’s third largest producer of natural gas.
-Alberta sells the oil, natural gas and coal to other provinces and
other countries.
-There are four petrochemical plants. Some products made include hard hats, computer keys, detergents.
-Other resources include 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.
-Alberta is the second largest agricultural producer in Canada.
-The top five agri-food exports (2008) were wheat, canola seed, beef, live cattle and pork.
-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.
-Beef cattle are raised on ranches in the southern foothills.
-Alberta is the largest cattle producing province in Canada.
PEOPLE AND PLACES
-The mountain scenery of Banff and Jasper national parks attracts thousands of tourists.
-Calgary stampede has bull riding, calf roping and chuckwagon racing.
-Wood Buffalo is the world’s second largest national park.
-The park is home to the world’s largest free roaming herd of wood bison.
-It is also the last natural nesting habitat of the rare whooping crane.
-Dinosaur Provincial Park is in the badlands near Drumheller.
-Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is the largest, oldest and best preserved buffalo jump in the world.
-Other historical sites Rocky Mountain House (fur trade) and the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village.
-A 9 m. high Ukrainian 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.
-Jann Arden and k.d.lang - singers, songwriters
