Alberta is the most western prairie province of Canada. Alberta was formerly one of the districts of the North-west Territories of Canada, having Assiniboia and Saskatchewan on the east, British Columbia on the west, the United States on the south, and Athabasca on the north - though Alberta includes part of the former territory of Athabasca. The rapid increase of population led in 1905 to the establishment of a province of Alberta.
A large part of the area on the west is occupied by the Rocky Mountains, which are shared in common with Alberta and British Columbia, and consist mostly of a series of more or less parallel ridges. One or two of the loftier summits are in the province, others on the boundary. There is much valuable timber in this district. The general slope of the surface is from west to east and north-east. The province is intersected by numerous rivers and streams that have their sources in the Rockies, some of them, such as the Peace river and the Athabasca, sending their waters to the ArcticOcean, while the others, such as the North and South Saskatchewan and their tributaries, belong to the Hudson Bay basin. In the extreme south are one or two small tributaries of the Missouri.
There are a number of lakes, the largest being the Lesser Slave Lake and Lake Athabasca (partly in this province). Notwithstanding the number of the streams, there are districts, especially in the south, where agriculture cannot be successfully carried on without irrigation. Farther to the north there are areas highly suitable for agriculture, and timber is also more abundant. Cattle-ranching is successfully carried on in the south.
The climate is very warm in summer, and in winter less severe than might be supposed, the winters being shorter than farther east. The warm chinook winds from the Pacific often blow in winter, and speedily cause the snow to disappear.
Abbreviations
Gazetteer
Research Alberta
