The westernmost of Canada's three Prairie provinces, Alberta lies between the 49th and 60th parallels. The Rocky Mountains are at its western boundary; Saskatchewan on the eastern boundary; north is the Northwest Terrritories and south the State of Montana. Roughly half of the southwestern section of the province is dominated by mountains and foothills -- striking reminders of the glaciers that, over millions of years, formed, moved and receded in the area. Peaks of the Rocky Mountains located in Alberta range from 2130 to 3747 m in elevation. The foothills, which form a gentle link between mountain and prairie landscapes, feature heavily forested areas and grasslands used for grazing cattle. Beneath their surface, the foothills contain some of the province's richest deposits of sour gas and coal. The remainder of the province -- approximately 90 percent of the land area -- forms part of the interior plain of North America. The plains include the forested areas that dominate the northern part of the province and the vast stretches of northern muskeg that overlay much of Alberta's oil and gas deposits and oil sands. Alberta has what is known as a continental climate. It is characterized by vivid seasonal contrasts in which long, cold winters are balanced by mild to hot summers and an unusually high number of sunny days no matter what the season. Although cold air covers the whole province in winter, it is frequently replaced in the southwest by a mild wind, the "chinook", funnelling through the mountains from the Pacific Ocean.

Alberta was a part of the inland sea in the glacier age and, hence, a playground for roaming dinosaurs. Drumheller and surrounding area (southern Alberta) are where the largest dinosaur remains can be found in North America. The terrain in this southern area of the province is similar to the Grand Canyon in the U.S. ... with sculptured mesas, plunging cliffs and astounding rock colouration from erosion. The Aboriginal People utilized these cliffs to hunt the buffalo that were prolific on the plains in times past. The Natives would force the herd in the direction of a cliff and force them to jump. At the bottom of many bluffs in Alberta are the remains of buffalo killed in this manner. One particular spot is called Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump, Alberta. These canyons were also utilized by many of the Aboriginal people as sheltered refuges. This is a fascinating area of Alberta and one with huge historic signifigance.

Aboriginal people, the Blackfoot, Blood, Piegan, Cree, Gros Ventre, Sarcee, Kootenay, Beaver and Slavey Indians (speaking a variety of Athapaskan and Algonquian languages) were the first people to inabit Alberta. These early Albertans, particularly the woodland tribes of the central and northern regions, became valuable partners of the European fur traders who arrived in the 18th century. Alberta was one of the first provinces in Canada to recognize Metis people. Sections of land were set aside for the Metis in settlements in the more north/western section of the province during the 1930's.

The first European explorer to reach this area was Anthony Henday in 1754. Alberta remained a part of the huge territory known as Rupert's Land up until 1905. Rupert's land was leased to the Hudson's Bay Company during most of the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries. This privately owned corporation gained most of its wealth through the fur trade. During the 17th century the HBC's operation was located in Ontario, with Courier du bois (Metis guides and traders) traversing Rupert's Land in the spring and summer months, returning to Ontario in the fall with their traded furs. The HBC dominated the land until the early 1700s when a rival company (The North West Company) was created by some Metis employees of the HBC, who began establishing trading posts (forts) in the outback regions. Peter Pond, of the North West Company, established the first fur-trading post in Alberta in 1778. From that time, the region was fought over by the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, each of which built competing fur-trading posts. The rivalry ended only in 1821, when the two companies merged.

Beginning with the arrival of the railway in 1883, the population started to grow quickly. Factors that helped swell the population were the discovery of new strains of wheat particularly suited to the climate of the Canadian Prairies; the end of an economic depression throughout North America; the lack of new farmland in the United States and during the formation of the United States, a big complaint amonst the settlers was the intrustion of the new government on land rights and surveying methods forcing many individuals to leave the fledgling United States and came to Canada. The province's native people formed the bulk of the area's population until the 1880s, when they were outnumbered by the influx of Europeans. Immigrants from many countries came in response to the Canadian government's aggressive efforts, between the 1890s and the 1920s, to promote immigration and encourage agricultural development. From the 1960s on, immigrants have come from all over the world, including the Pacific Rim, Asia and the Caribbean. Today, roughly 44 percent of Albertans are of British descent; other large ethnic groups are the German, Ukrainian, French, Scandinavian and Dutch. In 1991, close to 150,000 people were of Indigenous or Métis origin. Smaller numbers of people, tracing their heritage to virtually every country in the world, make up the remaining 24 percent of the population. English is the language of the vast majority of Albertans, and most religious faiths are represented.

With two thirds of the population under the age of 40, the province has one of the youngest populations in the industrialized world. This is, in part, due to the high level of international and interprovincial migration to Alberta over the past 25 years. Approximately 80 percent of Albertans live in urban areas, and more than half live in the two main cities of Edmonton and Calgary.

Alberta has one of the world's most productive agricultural economies, producing about 20 percent of the value of Canada's annual output. Approximately 22 million hectares of cultivated and uncultivated land are used as pasture and forage for livestock. While wheat remains the primary crop, the production of new crops continues to expand as the industry diversifies. The province maintains the largest livestock population in Canada. Alberta has more than 80 percent of Canada's reserves of conventional crude oil, over 90 percent of its natural gas, and all of its bitumen and oil-sands reserves. Over one half of the province is covered by forests of both hardwood and softwood species. Food and beverage processing remains the largest manufacturing industry in Alberta in terms of both sales and employment. Petrochemicals and plastics, forest products, metals and machinery, and refineries have become major success stories as well. An increasing range of industrial products -- including aerospace and transportation equipment, as well as industrial and specialty chemicals -- is also being manufactured in Alberta. The service sector accounts for more than 60 per cent of Alberta's gross domestic product. More than two thirds of Alberta's employment is found in such industries as business and financial services, transportation, retail trade, health and education services, and tourism. The province offers a multitude of attractions to visitors, and particularly prides itself on the magnificent Rocky Mountains, especially the celebrated Jasper and Banff national parks. Alberts is one of the most proserous provinces in Canada and has no provincial sales tax.

Alberta is a spectacularly diverse province geographically ... from mountains to lakes, to forests and plains. Come visit and see for yourself.