From glacier-blanketed mountains, dinosaur fossil-rich desert badlands and vast prairies to prosperous modern cities replete with world-class recreational and cultural facilities, Alberta mixes rugged with refined and does it with style.
The westernmost of Canada's three Prairie provinces is a land of many terrains, becoming progressively flatter as you travel eastward. Near the western boundary with British Columbia, the snow-capped Rocky Mountains are internationally renowned for skiers, climbers, hikers and nature buffs. Elk, mountain goats and grizzly bears are a common sight in Banff and Jasper, the two best-known Rockies national parks. Banff's Lake Louise, with graceful, snowy mountains embracing bright turquoise, is one of the world's loveliest lakes. Alberta has more land in national parks than any other province.
As you travel east, the Rockies give way to rolling foothills that diminish until the vast prairie takes over west of Calgary. The largely treeless plain runs clear across Alberta's southeast, through Saskatchewan and most of southern Manitoba, its rich, black soil nurturing crops like wheat and canola, as well as a ranching tradition that has imbued in Albertans a proud cowboy heritage. Rows of grain elevators along a railway track are still the landmarks that unmistakably engrave a town's identity as Prairie, but the towering wood structures are slowly disappearing as highways replace the old small-town railway branch lines.
Archaeologists have excavated fossils of dinosaurs and other prehistoric life forms from the badlands of south-central Alberta. The barren, dusty region is also home to modern-day scorpions, rattlesnakes and horned lizards. The scarce badlands plant life includes cacti and tumbleweeds.
Hunting, hiking and camping are popular in the forested wilderness of central and northern Alberta. Abundant lakes and rivers provide whitewater rafting, canoeing and fishing.
By lying on the lee side of the mountains, Alberta escapes British Columbia's coastal downpours and is blessed with more sunny days than any other Canadian province. Cold winters and temperate summers are the norm, but Alberta's winters are generally less cold than those of the other two Prairie provinces. Edmonton, the northernmost of Canada's provincial capitals, averages about 17 degrees celsius in summer, but only a brisk -14 in January. Calgary is warmer.
A unique winter phenomenon called a Chinook can rapidly warm Alberta temperatures by as much as 20 degrees Celsius in a matter of hours. Chinooks occur when dry air from the Pacific Ocean is heated as it flows down the slopes of the Rockies.
Massive oil and natural gas deposits fuel Alberta's economy - Canada's strongest. Agriculture, forestry and industrial manufacturing are also key contributors. Oil royalties have filled government coffers. With abundant energy resources, Albertans also enjoy Canada's lowest electricity and gasoline prices.
Although the bulk of the population is of British descent, Alberta has thriving communities of Germans, Ukrainians, Scandinavians, French, and Dutch. Many of Alberta's First Nations groups live on 98 reserves and settlements.
About 75% of Albertans live in urban centers, particularly Edmonton and Calgary, two of Canada's largest cities.
The West Edmonton Mall is the largest shopping mall in the world. The massive complex features 800 stores, 100 restaurants, a hockey rink, 34 movie theatres and an indoor lake.
Calgary inherited a legacy of top-notch Athletic facilities, including a ski jump, by being host to the 1988 Winter Olympics. But Calgarians never forget that theirs was once a cow town. Staid businessmen still wear cowboy hats and bolo ties to work during the Calgary Stampede. The world's largest outdoor rodeo features cowboy stunts such as bronco busting and its rough-and-tumble chuckwagon races. Both Calgary and Edmonton have teams in the National Hockey League (the Flames and the Oilers, respectively) and the Canadian Football League (the Stampeders, and the Eskimos).