Alberta

- Alberta is one of the Prairie Provinces.
- It is the fourth largest province.
- Saskatchewan is east of Alberta: British Columbia is west.
- The Northwest Territories are north of Alberta.
- The State of Montana is south.
- Alberta was named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria.
- Edmonton (capital city) and Calgary are the largest cities.
- Alberta's flower- Wild Rose ,tree- Lodge pole Pine , bird - Great Horned Owl, mammal- Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep
- Alberta's motto- "Strong and free".
- It is known as Canada's “energy province".
The PEOPLE
- Alberta is home to over 3.5 million people. (April 2007)
- The largest cities are Edmonton (capital) and Calgary.
- More than half of the people live in these two cities
- Immigrants came from Britain, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the East and Southeast Asia.
- Ethnic backgrounds- British (44 percent), German, Ukrainian, French, Scandinavian, Dutch, and many other countries
HISTORY
- The first people settled in the area about 8000 years ago.
- In the woodland areas the woodland Cree and Chipewyan tribes hunted moose, caribou and deer, fished and gathered plants and berries.
- They used bark canoes to travel up and down the streams.
- On the plains the Blackfoot, Blood, and Peigan hunted the bison and lived in tipis.
- Anthony Henday (European explorer and fur trader) came to Alberta in 1754.
- Fur traders built trading posts on the Athabasca River and North Saskatchewan River.
- Forts were built to keep law and order.
- The First Nations traded furs and received guns, blanket and metal goods.
- In 1874 The North-West Mounted Police (NWMP) established their first post in Alberta at Fort Macleod.
- Early settler were ranchers from England and the United States.