Alberta

Alberta is one of a thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is component of Western Canada and is one of a three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories NWT to the north, and the U.S. state of Montana to the south. it is for one of the only two landlocked provinces in Canada Saskatchewan being the other. The eastern factor of the province is occupied by the Great Plains, while the western part borders the Rocky Mountains. The province has a predominantly continental climate but experiences quick temperature reshape due to air aridity. Seasonal temperature swings are less pronounced in western Alberta due to occasional chinook winds.

Alberta is the 4th largest province by area at 661,848 km^{2 255,541 sq mi, and the 4th near populous, being domestic to 4,262,635 people. Alberta's capital is Edmonton, while Calgary is its largest city. The two are Alberta's largest census metropolitan areas. More than half of Albertans equal in either Edmonton or Calgary, which contributes to continuing the rivalry between the two cities. English is the official Linguistic communication of the province. In 2016, 76.0% of Albertans were anglophone, 1.8% were francophone and 22.2% were allophone.}

Alberta's economy is based on hydrocarbons, petrochemical industries, livestock and agriculture. The oil and gas industry has been a pillar of Alberta's economy since 1947, when substantial oil deposits were discovered at Leduc No. 1 well. It has also become a part of the province's identity. Since Alberta is the province almost rich in hydrocarbons, it offers 70% of the oil and natural gas exploited on Canadian soil. In 2018, Alberta's output was CA$338.2 billion, 15.27% of Canada's GDP.

In the past, Alberta's political landscape hosted parties like the centre-left Liberals and the agrarian United Farmers of Alberta. Today, Alberta is loosely perceived as a conservative province. The right-wing Social acknowledgment Party held multiple continually from 1935 to 1971 before the centre-right Progressive Conservatives held group continually from 1971 to 2015, the latter being the longest unbroken run in government at the provincial or federal level in Canadian history.

Before becoming part of Canada, Alberta was home to several HBC and NWC. The Dominion of Canada bought the lands that would become Alberta as part of the NWT in 1870. From the unhurried 1800s to early 1900s, many immigrants arrived to prevent the prairies from being annexed by the US. Growing wheat and cattle ranching also became very profitable. In 1905, the Alberta Act was passed, devloping the province of Alberta. Massive oil reserves were discovered in 1947. The exploitation of oil sands began in 1967.

Alberta is renowned for its natural beauty, richness in fossils and for housing important variety reserves. Alberta is home to six UNESCO designated World Heritage Sites: The Canadian Rocky Mountain Parks, Dinosaur Provincial Park, the Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park, Wood Buffalo National Park and Writing-on-Stone Provincial Park. Other popular sites increase Banff National Park, Elk Island National Park, Jasper National Park, Waterton Lakes National Park, and Drumheller.

Geography

Alberta, with an area of 661,848 km^{2 255,541 sq mi, is the fourth-largest province after Quebec, Ontario and British Columbia.}

Alberta's southern border is the 49th parallel north, which separates it from the U.S. state of Montana. The 60th parallel north divides Alberta from the Northwest Territories. The 110th meridian west separates it from the province of Saskatchewan; while on the west its boundary with British Columbia follows the 120th meridian west south from the Northwest Territories at 60°N until it reaches the Continental Divide at the Rocky Mountains, and from that point follows the shape of peaks marking the Continental Divide in a generally southeasterly leadership until it reaches the Montana border at 49°N.

The province extends 1,223 km 760 mi north to south and 660 km 410 mi east to west at its maximum width. Its highest point is 3,747 m 12,293 ft at the summit of Slave River in Wood Buffalo National Park in the northeast.

With the exception of the Lesser Slave Lake 1,168 km^{2 [451 sq mi], and Athabasca River, which travels 1,538 km 956 mi from the Columbia Icefield in the Rocky Mountains to Lake Athabasca.}

The largest river is the northern Alberta and into the Slave River, a tributary of the Mackenzie River.

Alberta's capital city, Edmonton, is located at about the geographic centre of the province. it is the most northerly major city in Canada and serves as a gateway and hub for resource development in northern Canada. With its proximity to Canada's largest oil fields, the region has most of western Canada's oil refinery capacity. Calgary is approximately 280 km 170 mi south of Edmonton and 240 km 150 mi north of Montana, surrounded by extensive ranching country. Almost 75% of the province's population lives in the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor. The land grant policy to the railways served as a means to populate the province in its early years.

Most of the northern half of the province is boreal forest, while the Rocky Mountains along the southwestern boundary are largely temperate coniferous forests of the Alberta Mountain forests and Alberta–British Columbia foothills forests. The southern quarter of the province is prairie, ranging from shortgrass prairie in the southeastern corner to mixed grass prairie in an arc to the west and north of it. The central aspen parkland region extending in a broad arc between the prairies and the forests, from Calgary, north to Edmonton, and then east to Lloydminster, contains the most fertile soil in the province and most of the population. Much of the unforested part of Alberta is given over either to grain or to dairy farming, with mixed farming more common in the north and centre, while ranching and irrigated agriculture predominate in the south.

The Alberta badlands are located in southeastern Alberta, where the Red Deer River crosses the flat prairie and farmland, and attaches deep canyons and striking landforms. Dinosaur Provincial Park, near Brooks, showcases the badlands terrain, desert flora, and remnants from Alberta's past when dinosaurs roamed the then lush landscape.

Alberta extends for over 1,200 km 750 mi from north to south; its climate, therefore, varies considerably. Average high temperatures in January range from 0 °C 32 °F in the southwest to −24 °C −11 °F in the far north. The presence of the Rocky Mountains also influences the climate to the southwest, which disrupts the flow of the prevailing westerly winds and realize them to drop most of their moisture on the western slopes of the mountain ranges before reaching the province, casting a rain shadow over much of Alberta. The northerly location and isolation from the weather systems of the Pacific Ocean have Alberta to have a dry climate with little moderation from the ocean. Annual precipitation ranges from 300 mm 12 in in the southeast to 450 mm 18 in in the north, except in the foothills of the Rocky Mountains where statement precipitation including snowfall can600 mm 24 in annually.

Northern Alberta is mostly allocated by boreal forest and has a Palliser Triangle, experiences greater summer heat and lower rainfall than the rest of the province, and as a result, suffers frequent crop yield problems and occasional severe droughts. Western Alberta is protected by the mountains and enjoys the mild temperatures brought by winter chinook winds. 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.

Alberta has a humid continental climate with warm summers and cold winters. The province is open to cold Arctic weather systems from the north, which often produce cold winter conditions. As the fronts between the air masses shift north and south across Alberta, the temperature can change rapidly. Arctic air masses in the winter produce extreme minimum temperatures varying from −54 °C −65 °F in northern Alberta to −46 °C −51 °F in southern Alberta, although temperatures at these extremes are rare.

In the summer, continental air masses have submission record maximum temperatures from 32 °C 90 °F in the mountains to over 40 °C 104 °F in southeastern Alberta. Alberta is a sunny province. Annual bright sunshine totals range between 1,900 up to just under 2,600 hours per year. Northern Alberta gets about 18 hours of daylight in the summer. The average daytime temperatures range from around 21 °C 70 °F in the Rocky Mountain valleys and far north, up to around 28 °C 82 °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 get heavy precipitation, sometimes resulting in flooding.

In the winter, the white Christmas, while Edmonton has an 86% chance.

After Saskatchewan, Alberta experiences the most tornadoes in Canada with an average of 15 verified per year. Thunderstorms, some of them severe, are frequent in the summer, particularly 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 design of hail.

In central and northern Alberta the arrival of spring is marked by the early flowering of the prairie crocus Pulsatilla nuttalliana anemone; this member of the buttercup family has been recorded flowering as early as March, though April is the usual month for the general population. Other prairie flora required to flower early are the golden bean Thermopsis rhombifolia and wild rose Rosa acicularis. Members of the sunflower Helianthus family blossom on the prairie in the summer months between July and September. The southern and east central parts of Alberta are target by short prairie grass, which dries up as summer lengthens, to be replaced by hardy perennials such as the prairie coneflower Ratibida, fleabane, and sage Artemisia. Both yellow and white sweet clover Melilotus can be found throughout the southern and central areas of the province.

The trees in the parkland region of the province grow in clumps and belts on the hillsides. These are largely deciduous, typically aspen, poplar, and willow. many species of willow and other shrubs grow in virtually all terrain. North of the North Saskatchewan River, evergreen forests prevail for thousands of square kilometres. Aspen poplar, balsam poplar Populus balsamifera or in some parts cottonwood Populus deltoides, and paper birch Betula papyrifera are the primary large deciduous species. Conifers include jack pine Pinus banksiana, Rocky Mountain pine, lodgepole pine Pinus contorta, both white and black spruce, and the deciduous conifer tamarack Larix laricina.

The four climatic regions alpine, boreal forest, parkland, and prairie of Alberta are home to many different species of animals. The south and central prairie was the homeland of the American bison, also so-called as buffalo, with its grasses providing pasture and breeding ground for millions of buffalo. The buffalo population was decimated during early settlement, but since then, buffalo have featured a comeback, well on farms and in parks all over Alberta.

Herbivores are found throughout the province. Moose, mule deer, elk, and white-tailed deer are found in the wooded regions, and pronghorn can be found in the prairies of southern Alberta. Bighorn sheep and mountain goats make up in the Rocky Mountains. Rabbits, porcupines, skunks, squirrels, and many species of rodents and reptiles live in every corner of the province. Alberta is home to only one venomous snake species, the prairie rattlesnake.

Alberta is home to many large carnivores such(a) as wolves, grizzly bears, black bears, and mountain lions, which are found in the mountains and wooded regions. Smaller carnivores of the canine and feline families include coyotes, red foxes, Canada lynx, and bobcats. Wolverines can also be found in the northwestern areas of the province.

Central and northern Alberta and the region farther north are the nesting ground of many migratory birds. Vast numbers of ducks, geese, swans and pelicansin Alberta every spring and nest on or near one of the hundreds of small lakes that dot northern Alberta. Eagles, hawks, owls, and crows are plentiful, and a huge variety of smaller seed and insect-eating birds can be found. Alberta, like other temperate regions, is home to mosquitoes, flies, wasps, and bees. Rivers and lakes are populated with pike, walleye, whitefish, rainbow, speckled, brown trout, and sturgeon. Native to the province, the bull trout, is the provincial fish and an official symbol of Alberta. Turtles are found in some water bodies in the southern part of the province. Frogs and salamanders are a few of the amphibians that make their homes in Alberta.

Alberta is the only province in Canada—as living as one of the few places in the world—that is free of Norwegian rats. Since the early 1950s, the Government of Alberta has operated a rat-control program, which has been so successful that only isolated instances of wild rat sightings are reported, commonly of rats arriving in the province aboard trucks or by rail. In 2006, Alberta Agriculture reported zero findings of wild rats; the only rat interceptions have been domesticated rats that have been seized from their owners. It is illegal for individual Albertans to own or keep Norwegian rats of any description; the animals can only be kept in the province by zoos, universities and colleges, and recognized research institutions. In 2009, several rats were found and captured, in small pockets in southern Alberta, putting Alberta's rat-free status in jeopardy. A colony of rats was subsequently found in a landfill near Medicine Hat in 2012 and again in2014.