My ALBERTA Home in Canada
This is our National Flag.
Go here to see a map of Canada.
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This is the Provincial Flag of Alberta.
This is Alberta's Coat of Arms.
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The wild rose. This is Alberta's Provincial flower.
The Great Horned Owl is the Provincial Bird of Alberta.
About Alberta
Alberta is the western most Province of Canada's three "prairie provinces." (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba)
It is bounded on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Saskatchewan, on the west by British Columbia and on the south by the State of Montana.
Alberta entered the Dominion of Canada in September of 1905 and is named for Princess Louise Alberta. She was the wife of a Canadian Governor-General
and a daughter of Queen Victoria.
Alberta is the fourth largest province in Canada. From north to south it stretches about 760 miles (1220km). From east to west about 400 miles (650km).
Alberta's highest point is Mount Columbia in the Rocky Mountains and is 12,294 feet in height (3747m). The most striking feature of Alberta is the Rocky Mountains and the foothills in the western part of the Province.
The Rocky Mountains provide some of Canada's most spectacular scenery. Both Banff National Park (about an hours drive west of Calgary) and Jasper National Park (about a 3½ hours west of Edmonton)
are located in the Rocky Mountains. Lake Louise is about an hours drive north of Banff on Highway 93 which stretches from Banff to Jasper.
The north eastern part of the Province is occupied by the Canadian Shield. It is a generally hilly but low lying area. In the south eastern corner lie the Cypress Hills, a bedrock upland rising to about 2000 feet (610m).
Alberta's two longest rivers, The Peace and the Athabaska, flow from the Rockies east and northeast across the Province eventually emptying in the Arctic Ocean.
The North and South Saskatchewan rivers flow east across the Province and eventually empty into Hudson Bay.
In the south, the Milk River and its tributaries flow east and south into the Mississippi basin.
The Provinces two largest lakes are the Claire and the Athabaska.
Alberta's climate is cold and dry in the winter with mild summers. The average annual rainfall is about 17 inches (430mm). Summer thunderstorms are often severe, and south-central Alberta has a reputation
as one of the worst hailstorms belts of North America.
Alberta is Canada's largest producer of petroleum and natural gas. The first oil discovery was in 1902 near Pincher Creek in south western part of Alberta.
Oil was discovered in Turner Valley (south of Calgary) in 1914 and the Leduc oil fields (south of Edmonton) in 1947. Where the Bow and Elbow Rivers come together nestles the city of Calgary (nicknamed "Cowtown") (3439 feet asl)(1058m). It is the largest city in Alberta with a population well over 750,000. It was incorporated as a city in 1893.
The first settlement, established in 1875 was an outpost for the Northwest Mounted Police (later to become the Royal Canadian Mounted Police) called Fort Brisebois. In 1876 the post was renamed Fort Calgary.
(a name probably derived grom a Gaelic term for "clear running water". Calgary's economy has been built on cattle and oil.
The temperatures in Calgary can range from -40ºF (-40ºC) to 86+ºF (30+ºC). During the winter months "chinooks" very often hit Calgary and can raise the temperature as much as 20ºF in less than an hour. In 1988 Calgary was the site of the Winter Olympic Games.
The lowest point, 557 feet (170m) is in Wood Buffalo National Park
in the north eastern part of the province.
About the City of Calgary
HEY !!!! for all you people out there who enjoy fishing go to the Alberta Gamefish page to see what we have here in the Province of Alberta.
FOR THOSE NOT FAMILIAR WITH TEMPERATURE CONVERSION TRY THIS.
If you want to find out the Temperature in Celsius, just enter the Fahrenheit temp and click outside the field.