The capital of Alberta, which is in central Canada, is Edmonton. Edmonton is one of the northernmost major cities in the world and has a winter climate that some find uncomfortable. Still, Edmonton is a beautiful city that has interesting museums or a variety of festivities throughout the year.
Also known for Alberta are Calgary and Banff as well as the Jasper National Park. The Banff National Park is probably Canada’s most famous and also first national park. It has incredible and breathtaking landscapes, no wonder this park is very popular with tourists.
Unique shapes created from sediment deposits from a former inland lake can be found in the Alberta Badlands. Hills, table mountains and gullies have emerged here. A huge number of dinosaurs were once found here, the Dinosaur Provincial Park was created here, it is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Alberta – key data
Area: 661,848 square kilometers, the sixth largest province of Canada (Land Area: 642,317 sq km, water Area: 19,531 sq km)
Share of water surface: 2.9%
Population: 3.63 million residents, fourth highest value of the provinces of Canada (2009, estimate)
Population density: 5.5 residents per square kilometer
Member of the Confederation: September 1, 1905 (9th Province of Canada)
Capital city: Edmonton (730,372 residents, 2006, metropolitan area 1.03 million residents, 2006)
Largest city: Calgary (988,193 residents, 2006, metropolitan area 1.08 million residents, 2006)
Highest point: 3,747 m, Mount Columbian
Lowest point: 183 m, Salt River as it enters the Northwest Territories in northeastern Alberta.
Lieutenant Governor: Norman Kwong
Prime Minister: Ed Stelmach
Local time: CET -8 h. From the second Sunday in March to the first Sunday in November: CET -7 h.
The time difference to Central Europe in Alberta is -8 hours in both winter and summer.
Postal abbreviation: AB
Alberta Geography and Map
The Canadian province of Alberta is the westernmost prairie province in the country. Alberta is bounded to the north by the Northwest Territories, to the west by British Columbia, to the east by Saskatchewan and to the south by the American state of Montana.
The total area of Alberta amounts to almost 662,000 square kilometers, which is divided into 642,300 square kilometers of land and around 19,500 square kilometers of lakes and rivers. Edmonton is the provincial capital. About half of the landscape of Alberta, which celebrated its centenary in 2005, is made up of expansive prairie areas embossed. The “sea of grass” stretches to the east as far as Manitoba and is now mainly used as farmland. In the west, the foothills of the Rocky Mountains dominate the landscape.
In the national parks of Banff, Jasper and Waterton Lakes, the wilderness areas of bears, elk, bald eagles and other rare species are ideal living conditions. The center of Alberta with the capital Edmonton lives mainly from the refinery of the oil extracted from the tar sand in the north of the province. To the south, agriculture and cattle breeding are practiced, with the former prairie being used as extensive pastureland in the south. In the southeast of Alberta extends the so-called wasteland, whose barren landscape is dominated by cliffs and deep gorges. This is where the famous Dinosaur Provincial Park is located, which is home to the largest dinosaur cemetery in the world.
Numerous rivers and lakes provide Alberta with sufficient water. Only the region in the southwest hardly benefits from this abundance of water. The Lake Athabasca, whose major part is in the neighboring Saskatchewan, is the largest lake in the province. It is followed by Lake Claire in Wood Buffalo National Park and Lesser Slave Lake northwest of Edmonton.
Alberta Landmarks
The Canadian province of Alberta has too much to offer its visitors. Of curiosities,Attractions, Fun and other attractions, everything is available. So you should definitely not miss Calgary Park. This is a fun park right on Highway One in western Canada. There are more than thirty rides in the park to entertain young and old alike. The Calgary Park is complemented by various live shows and mini golf courses.
There are even tourists who spend several days in Calgary Park. They use the adjacent campsites to spend the night there. Attractions: what the park has to offer are the Calgary Spaceport, where you really want to be an astronaut, or the Calgary Airport. There are four flight simulators in which you can get to know the feeling of being out and about in the freedom of the air. Calgary has a lot more to offer from the virtual space station ISS to dinosaurs.
The sporty tourists will surely have a look at the Canada Olympic Park. It is worth recommending, and not just in the winter. The Canada Olympic Park is still used today by various international athletes as a training ground. Here you can thunder down the ice rink on a toboggan sledge or explore the 25-kilometer system of trails on a bike. The skyline is absolutely exciting. The route of the skyline begins on a ninety meter high ski jump. Up there you are attached to the cable car with a mountaineering harness and rush down into the valley at a speed of up to 140 h / km. Here you can really experience the feeling of ski jumpers when they go down the hill and start jumping.
In the Olympic Park you can also play a game of mini golf or spend the day on the climbing wall. The park has other attractions to offer.
Other exciting sights would be the Skate Park, Fort Calgary, Edmonton etc.
Alberta also has some curiosities to offer, such as the Lacombe Com Maze. The corn maze is not far from the town of Lacombe. The labyrinth is the oldest attraction in the province and is still popular with families today. The little ones make their way through a mini maze specially created for them. The children are also offered a hay cannon and Canada’s largest jumping pillow for entertainment. Here you can also picnic and laugh at the pig race.
The Worlds First UFO Landing Pad is also one of the province’s curiosities. The only UFO landing pad in the world is located in the Canadian town of St. Paul. It was built in 1967. Since then, tourists have been able to learn everything there is to know about flying saucers and other phenomena attributed to extraterrestrials. The visitor center is impressive as the building is modeled on a spaceship.
In Drumheller you can marvel at the largest T-Rex in the world. Just looking at it makes your blood run cold. The colossus is twenty-five meters high and is made of steel and fiberglass. A bit of an exaggeration was made in its manufacture as it is five times the size of its real ancestors.
Very tough tourists even brush the monster’s teeth up the over a hundred steps inside the animal until they get to its mouth.
Other curiosities include the largest Easter egg in the world in Vegreville, the world’s largest pierogi in Glendon or Vulcan.
Alberta also has a long list of nature reserves and national parks to offer.
There are also a large number of different museums in the Canadian province, such as the La La Biche Mission National Historic Site or the Fort McMurray Historical Society-Heritage Park.
