Alberta is one of Canada's prairie provinces. It became a province on September 1, 1905.
Alberta is located in western Canada, bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, Northwest Territories to the north, and by the U.S. state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three provinces and territories (the others being New Brunswick and Yukon) to border only a single U.S. state. It is also one of two provinces that are land-locked (the other being Saskatchewan).
The capital city of Alberta is Edmonton, located just south of the centre of the province. Roughly 300km south of the capital is Calgary, Alberta's largest city and a major distribution and transportation hub as well as one of Canada's major commerce centers. Edmonton is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's oil sands and other northern resource industries. According to recent population estimates, these two metropolitan areas have now both exceeded 1 million people. Other municipalities in the province include Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Camrose, Lloydminster, Wetaskiwin, Banff, Cold Lake, and Jasper.
Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848–1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria and her husband, Prince Albert. Princess Louise was the wife of the Marquess of Lorne, Governor General of Canada from 1878 to 1883. Lake Louise, the village of Caroline, and Mount Alberta were also named in honour of Princess Louise.
Alberta is in western Canada and covers an area of 661,190 km² (255,287 mi²). To the south, it borders the U.S. state of Montana on the 49th Parallel. To the east at a longitude of 110° west, it borders the province of Saskatchewan. At 60° north, it is bordered by the Northwest Territories. To the west, its border with British Columbia follows the line of peaks of the Rocky Mountains range along the Continental Divide, which runs northwesterly until it reaches 120° west, at which point the border follows this meridian to 60° north.
With the exception of the southeastern section, the province is well watered. Alberta contains dozens of rivers and lakes used for swimming, water skiing, fishing and a full range of other water sports. There are three large lakes and a multitude of smaller lakes less than 260 km² each. Part of Lake Athabasca (7,898 km²) lies in the province of Saskatchewan. Lake Claire (1,436 km²) lies just west of Lake Athabasca in Wood Buffalo National Park. Lesser Slave Lake (1,168 km²) is northwest of Edmonton.
Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, is located almost in the geographic centre of the province, and most of Alberta's oil is refined here. Southern Alberta, where Calgary is located, is known for its ranching. Much of the unforested part of Alberta is given over either to grain or to dairy farming, with ranching and grasslands predominate the south.
The Alberta badlands are located in southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer River crosses the flat prairie and farmland, and features deep gorges and striking landforms. Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks, Alberta, showcases the badlands terrain, desert flora, and remnants from Alberta's past when dinosaurs roamed the then lush landscape.
Alberta is one of only two Canadian provinces to have no maritime coast (the other being the neighbouring province of Saskatchewan.)
Because Alberta extends for 1,200 km from north to south, and about 600 km wide at its greatest east-west extent, it is natural that its climate should vary considerably. It is also further influenced by its elevation since the province is a high plateau. The elevation ranges from about 1,000 meters in the south (Calgary is about 1,100 meters and Red Deer is about 850 meters) to 650.000000650 meters in the north. The presence of a wall of mountains on the west and open prairies on the east also influences the weather.
Northern Alberta is mostly covered by boreal forest and has fewer frost-free days than southern Alberta, which has a semi-arid climate. The southeastern corner of Alberta experiences greater summer heat and lower rainfall than the rest of the province. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains and enjoys the mild temperatures brought by winter chinook winds, while southeastern Alberta is a generally flat, dry prairie with some hills, where temperatures are most extreme. They can range from very cold (−35 °C (−31 °F) or lower in the winter) to very hot (38 °C (100 °F) or higher in the summer). Central and parts of northwestern Alberta in the Peace River region are largely aspen parkland, a biome transitional between prairie to the south and boreal forest to the north. After southern Ontario, Central Alberta is the most likely region in Canada to experience tornadoes. Thunderstorms, some of them severe, are frequent in the summer, especially in central and southern Alberta. The region surrounding the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is notable for having the highest frequency of hail in Canada, which is caused by orographic lifting from the nearby Rocky Mountains, enhancing the updraft/downdraft cycle necessary for the formation of hail.
Overall, Alberta has cold winters, with a temperature average ranging from −10 °C (14 °F) in the south to −24 °C (−12 °F) in the north. In the south along the foothills of the Rockies, the winter cold is sometimes interrupted by Chinook winds which can propel temperatures upward in a short time frame close to or infrequently above 20 °C (68 °F). These conditions most commonly occur in February or March. In the summer, the average daytime temperatures range from around 21 °C (70 °F) in the Rocky Mountains (valleys) and far north to near 30 °C (86 °F) in the dry prairie of the southeast. The northern and western parts of the province experience higher rainfall and lower evaporation rates caused by cooler summer temperatures. The south and east-central portions are prone to drought-like conditions sometimes persisting for several years, although even these areas can receive heavy precipitation. Alberta experiences a good amount of sunshine for its northern location owing to its fairly dry climate; the east-central part of the province (bordering Saskatchewan) is the sunniest place in Canada with an average of over 2,500 hours each year.
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