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Facts About Alberta

Population According to the 1996 national census, Alberta ranked fourth among the provinces (after Ontario, Québec, and British Columbia), with a population of 2,696,826. This figure represented an increase of 5.9 percent over the 1991 figure of 2,545,553. In 2001 the population was an estimated 2,974,807. The average population density in that year was 4.6 persons per sq km (11.9 per sq mi). People living in urban communities account for 80 percent of Alberta's residents. One-half of the province's inhabitants live in Edmonton or Calgary.
LARGEST CITIES (1991 census)
Calgary (city, 710,677; metropolitan area, 754,033). Manufacturing and agricultural center in wheat-growing and livestock-raising district; oil refining; meatpacking; flour milling; brewing; lumbering; site of famous annual rodeo.
Edmonton (city, 616,741; metropolitan area, 839,924). Provincial capital; manufacturing and trading center in agricultural region; center of Canadian oil and natural gas development; coal mining.
Lethbridge (60,974). City in partly irrigated farm area; ranching; flour, beet sugar, coal; food processing.
Red Deer (58,134). On Red Deer River; oil and natural gas center, dairy products.
Medicine Hat (43,625). In wheat-growing and cattle-raising area; natural gas.
Extent. Area, 255,285 square miles (661,185 square kilometers), including 6,485 square miles (16,796 square kilometers) of water surface (4th province in size).
Greatest length (north to south), 760 miles (1,220 kilometers); greatest width (east to west), 400 miles (640 kilometers).
Elevation. Highest, Mount Columbia, 12,294 feet (3,747 meters); lowest, Slave River valley, 573 feet (175 meters); average, 4,000 feet (1,200 meters).
Temperature. Extremes--lowest -78o F (-61o C), Fort Vermilion, Jan. 11, 1911; highest, 108o F (42o C), Medicine Hat, July 12, 1886.
Averages at Edmonton--January, 6.6 F (-14.1 C); July, 63.1 F (17.3 C); annual, 36.9 F (2.7 C).
Averages at Medicine Hat--January, 12.1 F (-11.1 C); July, 69.1 F (20.6 C); annual, 41.5 F (5.3 C).
Precipitation. Average annual total--at Edmonton, 13.26 inches (337 millimeters); at Medicine Hat, 9.42 inches (239 millimeters).
Land Use. Agricultural 30%; forest 61%; urban, water, and other 9%.
Major Products
Agricultural. Wheat, rapeseed, barley, cattle, hogs, timber.
Manufactured. Food and beverages, petroleum refining, metal fabricating, wood industries, chemicals.
Mined. Crude petroleum, natural gas, sulfur, coal.