Please read atleast the green facts below.
The Province of Alberta
Facts About Our Great Western Province
- Officially Granted Provincial status on September 1st, 1905.
- Named after Princess Louisa Caroline Alberta, the 4th child of Queen Victoria. The Princess was born in 1848, and married the Governor General of Canada, John Campbell. In addition to providing the province its name, the Princess is also the namesake for Lake Louise in the Rocky Mountains.
- Alberta’s official motto is Fortis et Liber, Latin for “strong & free.”
Alberta covers an area of 661,000 square kilometres, and measures 1200 km north-south and 699 km east-west at its widest point (larger then France).
The population of Alberta crossed the 3 million mark in 2000, with 80% of the populace living in a city setting, and the other 20% being rural. The current population is approximately 3.3 million.
Alberta has the youngest overall population in Canada.
The average age in Fort McMurray is 30 years.
There are twice as many cows in Alberta as people.
Only Saudi Arabia has more oil reserves than Canada, and almost all of that oil is found in Alberta.
Alberta currently has the highest standard of living in Canada.
Alberta is the only Canadian province with no debt.
Alberta has the only animal forensics lab in the world, The Neil Crawford Centre.
Alberta is home to almost half (40%) of Canada’s UN World Heritage Sites.
According to a study by Environment Canada, Alberta possesses the best overall weather in Canada. The same study found that Quebec has the worst weather in Canada.
Since the law has never been repealed, businesses in Alberta must provide rails for tying up horses. Furthermore, upon release from prison, the ex-convict is supposed to be provided with a gun, bullets, and a horse, so that they may ride out of town unmolested.
Men outnumbered women in 1911 Alberta 155 to 100.
Edmonton Facts :
Edmonton’s public telephone system was the first in North America to use 911 to call emergency services.
Edmonton recycles more waste than any other city in the world.
Edmonton was the first city in North America to have a light-rail railway system.
West Edmonton Mall used to be the world’s biggest shopping mall until the Golden Resources Mall in Beijing, China opened in 2004. In 2005, the even bigger South China Mall, also in Beijing, opened, putting West Ed in 3rd place globally.
The height from the top of the loop to the floor of the Mindbender rollercoaster at West Edmonton Mall is just slightly less than the height of the Statue of Liberty in New York City (looks bigger on TV).
There is an employee at West Edmonton Mall whose only job is to replace the light bulbs.
Edmonton has the most retail space per capita in Canada.
Edmonton has more parkland per capita than any other city in North America.
Cold-FX, the #1 cold & flu medicine in Canada, was invented at CV Technologies in Edmonton.
The Al Rashid Mosque in Edmonton (built in 1937 by the Lebanese community) was Canada’s first mosque.
Rexall Place in Edmonton has been using the same dirt for the Canadian Finals Rodeo for 30 years. It’s cleaned and returned every year.
The motion picture The Running Man, was originally supposed to be filmed in Edmonton, with Christopher Reeve cast in the role of Ben Richards. However, producers decided to move the production to Los Angeles, and Arnold Schwarzenegger was recast in the role.
Calgary Facts :
Calgary is Canada’s third most densely populated city, and the largest in Alberta.
Calgary means “clear water” in Gaelic.
The City of Calgary recycles 355,000 cubic metres of sewage a day, returning purified water to the Bow River, and using the human waste as agricultural fertilizer. Before you condemn this as completely disgusting, just know that crops fertilized with human waste are far more productive. Plus its free, and in abundant supply!
Calgary’s light-rail train system, the C-train, is completely wind-powered and emission-free.
The Calgary Stampede is Canada’s largest annual event and largest rodeo on earth.
The Calgary Stampede has been billed “The Greatest Outdoor Show on Earth” since its inception in 1912.
People consume 4536 kg of pancakes, 1814 kg of bacon and sausage, 5,000 bottles of syrup, and 85,000 juice containers every year at Calgary Stampede breakfasts across the city.
The 1988 Calgary Winter Olympics were the first Olympic Games to turn a profit.
The Olympic Oval on the University of Calgary campus was North America’s first covered speed-skating arena.
The Olympic Hall of Fame in Calgary is the world’s largest Olympic museum.
Java script was invented by Calgarian James Gosling.
The Caesar Cocktail was created by Calgary bartender Walter Chell, when he added “clam nectar” (whatever that is) to a Bloody Mary (vodka and tomato juice).
Parts of the movies Superman II and Superman III were shot in Calgary, High River, and the Columbia Icefields. In fact, in Superman III, after the bad Superman ruins the bar by breaking bottles with flicked peanuts and melting the mirror with his heat vision, you can see the Calgary Tower and a C-Train in the background as he flies away!
Other Alberta Facts :
St. Paul has the world's only UFO landing pad. Well done!
It is illegal to paint wooden logs in Alberta.
Falher, Alberta, is the Honey Capital of Canada, producing 4.5 million kilograms of liquid gold per year.
Coal mined in Alberta contains very little sulphur, and therefore burns much cleaner than other types of coal.
Canadians actually ate more beef during the 2003 mad cow crisis.
In 1905, 64 hectares of Alberta land could be purchased by any 21 year old male who had $10 in his pocket on the condition that they lived on the land at least six months out of the year for the first three years, and cultivated a minimum of 16 hectares.
It used to be illegal to tie a male horse next to a female horse on Main Street in Wetaskiwin.
The system of lanes that were used to drive bison over the edge of the cliff at Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump is the largest in the world.
Bowden has the only police dog training facility in the country.
Lake Louise is the highest town in Canada at 1540 metres.
Leeshore is the site of the first recorded crop circle.
Only 18.5% of Alberta’s roads are paved.
There is no such plant as Canola. Canola oil actually comes from the unfortunately named rapeseed plant.
Lethbridge started life as an illegal whisky trading post (Fort Whoop-Up), and grew thanks to the nearby Oldman coal mine.
Women were granted the vote in 1916.
There are NO (as in zero) rats in Alberta, the only place in Canada that can say that.
The oil collapse of the 1980s was the worst economic disaster in Alberta since the Great Depression.
Joni Mitchell, Michael J. Fox, George Fox, Terri Clark, Natasha Henstridge, k.d. lang, Leslie Nielsen, Eric McCormack, Ian Tyson, Nickelback, and Jann Arden all hail form Alberta.
Cows can go upstairs, but not down.
