Edmonton - Geography. I INTRODUCTION Edmonton, city, capital of the province of Alberta, Canada, and its largest metropolitan center. Edmonton is situated in central Alberta at a historic crossroads of water, land, and air routes. Its high latitude (53° north) and interior location produce winters that are long, cold, and relatively dry. The average daily temperature range in January is -17° C to -8° C (1° F to 17° F), and the average range in July is 12° C to 23° C (54° F to 73° F). The average precipitation is 461 mm (18.1 in). Precipitation mainly falls in summer, which produces excellent growing conditions for grain, oilseed, and pasture. II PEOPLE As recently as 1941 Edmonton had 94,000 people, making it the ninth largest city in Canada. By 1981 it ranked fifth with a population of 515,800 for the city proper (area within the city limits) and 741,000 for the entire metropolitan area. Growth has been slower since then, but still considerable. In 2001 Edmonton was still Canada's fifth largest city, with a population of 730,372. The entire metropolitan area had a population of 1,050,000in 2006. Immigration, especially from the United Kingdom and continental Europe, has always been a major factor in Edmonton's growth. Although the population today is highly mixed, nearly half of Edmonton residents have some British ancestry. Among those reporting an unmixed origin in the 1991 census, British descent is the most common (17 percent of the total population), followed by German (6 percent), Ukrainian (6 percent), and Chinese (4 percent). III CITY LANDSCAPE Edmonton occupies a land area of 670 sq km (259 sq mi) on a flat site across which the North Saskatchewan River has carved a broad, deep valley. The metropolitan area occupies a land area of 9537 sq km (3682 sq mi). In earlier times, this valley was the site of industries and workers' houses, but now it is largely taken up with parks, golf courses, and such attractions as the Muttart Conservatory, Fort Edmonton Park, and the Valley Zoo. Expensive houses and high-rise apartment buildings line the river bluffs, along with some of Edmonton's most important public buildings, such as the Alberta Legislature, the Provincial Museum, and the University of Alberta (founded in 1906). North of the valley is the downtown district, marked by a dense cluster of office towers. In the area around Sir Winston Churchill Square are municipal government buildings, law courts, the Edmonton Art Gallery, and the Citadel Theatre. Across the river is the Old Strathcona historic conservation area, where the Fringe Theatre Event takes place every August. Farther out, toward the city limits, are West Edmonton Mall, a modern shopping and entertainment complex that is among the most popular tourist destinations in Alberta, and Edmonton Garrison, the largest military base in western Canada. Other notable features of Edmonton and its surrounding area are the Space and Science Centre; the Skyreach Centre, where the Edmonton Oilers of the National Hockey League (NHL) play; Commonwealth Stadium, which attracts international sporting events and is the home field for the Edmonton Eskimos of the Canadian Football League (CFL); and Northlands Exhibition Ground, best known for the fair held during the Klondike Days festival every July. Other attractions include the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium, where the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, the Edmonton Opera, and the Alberta Ballet perform; the Devonian Botanical Gardens; Elk Island National Park; and the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village. Edmonton's leading educational institutions are the University of Alberta, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology (1962), and Grant MacEwan Community College (1971). IV ECONOMY Edmonton, which describes itself as "The Gateway to the North," is the transportation and distribution center for an area reaching to the Arctic Ocean. It is also an important center of government, defense, and other public services, and has the largest concentration of heavy industry in Alberta. The Edmonton region is rich in forest and energy resources, including coal, oil, natural gas, and huge oil sands deposits. The main industries are oil refining and oil field services; the manufacture of fertilizer, plastics, and petrochemicals; brewing; meatpacking; metal fabrication; and nickel refining. In recent years, Edmonton has become an advanced research center specializing in oil sands technology and pharmaceuticals. Edmonton is situated strategically where the Yellowhead Highway, one of two main routes across western Canada, meets highways leading south to Calgary and north to Alaska. It is served by the Canadian National Railway (for which it is the western Canadian headquarters), the Canadian Pacific Railway, and several Canadian and United States airlines. Edmonton has a light-rail transit (LRT) system, which was the first of its kind in Canada, as well as an international airport and three smaller, special-purpose airports. V GOVERNMENT Seventeen separate cities, towns, and counties make up Edmonton's metropolitan area. Each has its own municipal government, with an elected mayor or reeve and council. In the city of Edmonton, the largest municipality, elections are held every three years for a mayor and for 12 councillors who represent six wards. The city council appoints a city manager, who serves for a negotiated length of time and manages the day-to-day operation of city government. School boards are the only other elected bodies. There is no metropolitan regional government, but appointed boards, such as the Capital Health Authority, provide some services on a regional basis. VI CONTEMPORARY ISSUES A serious loss of air passenger service is one of the most pressing issues facing Edmonton today. Because of airline deregulation and competition, Calgary has become the air travel hub for the western prairie region, while Edmonton has lost many of its direct flights to other cities. In an effort to reverse this trend, a regional airport authority was created, and all commercial passenger service that had gone through Edmonton Municipal Airport (now City Center Airport) was moved to Edmonton International Airport. The rationale was that increased traffic at the international airport was expected to increase the number of international flights. Whether or not this reasoning proves to be correct, the immediate result to the city government is the loss of considerable revenue from the municipal airport, which it operated before the regional authority was created. A second major issue is government cutbacks: Many government jobs have been lost in Edmonton, and as a result, municipal grants have been eliminated, medical and social programs have been reduced, and poverty has worsened. VII HISTORY For thousands of years, central Alberta was home to nomadic people who lived mainly by hunting bison. Then, in the 18th century, the Cree nation took over the territory. The Cree had moved west to trap beaver for the European fur trade. They were soon followed by the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company, both of which built fur trading posts near present-day Edmonton in 1795. The posts were rebuilt several times, always along the North Saskatchewan River, which provided the traders' main transportation route. The last move came in 1830, when Fort Edmonton was erected on the high bluff where the Alberta Legislature now stands. For the next 50 years, the fort was the major trading center on the western plains. The modern city began to take shape after 1900, when central Alberta was opened to European immigrants as transcontinental railways were built. The Canadian Northern Railway reached Edmonton in 1905 and the Grand Trunk Pacific in 1909. Before that, there was only a branch railway from Calgary (1891) that stopped south of the river, giving rise to the rival city of Strathcona. Edmonton was incorporated as a city in 1904. When Alberta was made a province the following year, Edmonton was chosen to be its capital, while Strathcona received the provincial university. Strathcona was merged with Edmonton in 1912. In the 1920s Edmonton gained new strategic importance as an air transportation center. Its municipal airport was Canada's first public airport, and for a time during World War II (1939-1945), it was the busiest airport in North America. A large part of this traffic was connected with the construction of the Alaska Highway (1942), for which Edmonton was the southern base. Then, in 1947, oil was discovered nearby, near the town of Leduc. Edmonton rapidly became the supply center for Alberta's booming oil industry and a processing and transportation center for petroleum products. In the 1960s a construction boom began in Edmonton, and most of the downtown office towers were built between 1960 and 1985. Traffic became heavy enough that in 1978 a light-rail rapid transit system was installed. The system has since been expanded considerably. Also in 1978, the city hosted the Commonwealth Games, an athletic meet for members of the Commonwealth of Nations. Several sports facilities were built for the games and are still in use, including Commonwealth Stadium, a swimming center, and a velodrome (track designed for cycling). Commonwealth Stadium became the site of a world sporting event again in 1983, when the World University Games were held there. Contributed By: Peter J. Smith Microsoft ® Encarta ® 2009. © 1993-2008 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
