about alberta

Alberta, the 4th largest Canadian province is located in western Canada and has a population of almost 3 million people, the majority of whom live in the sister cities of Calgary in the south and Edmonton in the north.

history
The Blackfoot, Blood and Peigan First Nations settled the plains of Alberta about 8,000 years ago, sustaining themselves by hunting the buffalo. Another group of First Nations, who included the Woodland Cree and Chipewyan tribes, settled the woodland areas of central Alberta. During the 19th Century, European fur traders married Native women resulting in the creation of a new people, the Métis (meaning "mixed"), who are unique to Canada's plains.

The first European to reach Alberta was the fur trader Anthony Henday, who explored the vicinity of present-day Edmonton in 1754-55. The fur trade led to greater knowledge of the geography of Alberta, especially through the work of David Thompson in the 1790s and early 1800s. The Hudson's Bay company, who took control in 1821 of the fur trade across the whole Northwest, tried to keep settlers out of the area, but allowed missionaries to move in. Alberta's first missionary was Robert Rundle, a Methodist, who arrived at Fort Edmonton in 1840. The first Roman Catholic missionary was Jean-Baptiste Thibault, who arrived at Lac Sainte Anne in 1842. Some of Alberta's future towns were built at mission sites.

settlement
A major event in Alberta history was the arrival of the railway in 1883 which made settlement of the West possible. In 1881 there were about 1,000 non-Native settlers in Alberta. Ten years later that number had grown to 17,500 and to 584,000 by 1921! While most of the early settlers came from Ontario, Britain or the United States, many of the people who came as a result of the Canadian government's campaign to settle the West were of German, Ukrainian, and Romanian descent. This seeded into Alberta a cultural diversity in population that it enjoys to this day.

oil and gas
Alberta's destiny was changed forever in 1947, when a major oil discovery was made at Leduc, near Edmonton. This led later to the discovery and development of Alberta Oil Sands in the far north eastern corner of the province. These oil sands contain the biggest known reserve of oil in the world. An estimated 1.7 to 2.5 trillion barrels of oil are trapped in a complex mixture of sand, water and clay. In 2003, Alberta accounted for: 66% of Canada's conventional oil, 81% of Canada's natural gas and100% of Canada's bitumen and synthetic crude oil.

today
Today Alberta is a vibrant, prosperous province, with a high quality of life. Albertans enjoy some of the most beautiful scenery in Canada from the majestic Rocky Mountains to the infamous southern Albertan badlands to the rugged forests which cover half the province's area.