Alberta, Canada

Panorama of Calgary, Alberta, Canada
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Calgary_panorama-2.jpg
Author: Calgarypano

Cities and Major Sights in Alberta

Alberta (AB) is one of the three prairie provinces of Canada (which also includes Saskatchewan and Manitoba). It has a population of 3.6 million people (2012 estimate). The capital of Alberta is Edmonton while the biggest city is Calgary.

Located in the central western part of the country, Alberta covers 661,848 sq km (255,541 sq mi). It is bordered by Saskatchewan to the east, British Columbia to the west, Northwest Territories to the north and the US state of Montana to the south. In the Canadian Parliament, Alberta has 28 seats out of 308 seats in the Canadian House of Commons and 6 seats out of 105 seats in the Senate of Canada. The official language of Alberta is English.

Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria, who was the Queen of Canada until 1901. The capital, Edmonton is near the geographic center of the province while the city of Calgary is approximately 300 km to the south of it.

Canadian Pacific train in Wetaskiwin, Alberta
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Canadian_Pacific_Track_Laying_Train_Wetaskiwin_Alberta_Canada_06A.jpg
Author: WinterE229


The earliest people to inhabit the Alberta area were the Paleo-Indians, who probably migrated from Siberia via Alaska into Alberta some ten thousand years ago, at the end ofthe last Ice Age.

After the British arrived in Canada in the early 17th century, they placed all lands south of the Athabasca River drainage under Rupert's Land. This includes half of present-day Alberta, and all lands drained by rivers flowing into the Hudson Bay. In 1670, King Charles II gave the Hudson's Bay Company the monopoly on fur trade in the area.

In 1882, the district of Alberta was formed, as part of the North-West Territories. It was enlarged and granted provincial status in 1905.

Farm in Alberta, Canada
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Farm_Hwy_37_Alberta_Canada_02A.jpg
Author: WinterE229


As a major petroleum producer, Alberta has one of the strongest economies among the provinces and territories of Canada. It also enjoys the highest GDP of any Canadian province, at C$74,825 (2007). The Calgary-Edmonton Corridor is one of the most urbanized parts of Canada and also one of the most densely populated.

Visiting Alberta

The cities of Calgary and Edmonton have international airports, in fact the Calgary International Airport is the third largest in Canada by passenger traffic. It is also the base of low-cost carrier Westjet.

Alberta is a huge place, so driving may be the practical way of exploring it. Greyhound Canada offers bus services connecting many of the cities and main towns. Train services is very limited.

An inukshuk or stone landmark in Alberta, Canada
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Inukshuk-01.jpg
Author: Phil Whitehouse

Towns in Alberta

World Heritage Sites in Alberta

Places of Interest in Alberta

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Dear visitor, thank you so much for reading this page. My name is Timothy Tye and my hobby is to find out about places, write about them and share the information with you on this website. I have been writing this site since 5 January 2003. Originally (from 2003 until 2009, the site was called AsiaExplorers. I changed the name to Penang Travel Tips in 2009, even though I describe more than just Penang but everywhere I go (I often need to tell people that "Penang Travel Tips" is not just information about Penang, but information written in Penang), especially places in Malaysia and Singapore, and in all the years since 2003, I have described over 20,000 places.

While I try my best to provide you information as accurate as I can get it to be, I do apologize for any errors and for outdated information which I am unaware. Nevertheless, I hope that what I have described here will be useful to you.