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Edmonton Demographics
Located in Central Alberta, Edmonton hosts a variety of attractions for visitors and residents. Edmonton is the capital city of Alberta. The beautiful river valley "band of green" parklands, which follows the North Saskatchewan River through the city, gives Edmonton many miles of hiking and biking trails which double as cross country ski trails in the winter. Edmonton has more parkland per capita then any other Canadian city!
Edmonton is known as Canada's Festival City, with a multi-cultural heritage, events each summer include 9 festivals, a Visual Arts Celebration, the International Jazz Festival, the Fringe Theatre Event, and Heritage Days Festival.
Visitors will enjoy visiting Edmonton's 'claim to fame', the West Edmonton Mall! This mall is the largest in the world with over 800 stores and services and five world-class attractions; Galaxy, World Water Park, Deep Sea Adventure, Europa Golf and the Ice Palace. Shopping has never been more convenient, or fun! While at the mall, stay in one of the many theme rooms offered by The Fantasyland Hotel located right in the mall!
In 1795, Edmonton House was established as a Hudson Bay Trading Post. This created the foundation of which the city of Edmonton was built around.
With the Klondike Gold Rush in 1897, the population grew as thousands came to seek their fortunes as they continued their final leg of their journey to the Yukon. Many of those who were seeking gold settled in Edmonton and by 1904, Edmonton was incorporated into a city.
In 1947 with the major oil discovery in Leduc Alberta, just southwest of Edmonton, they were branded 'The oil capital of Alberta'. Edmonton established the area as a hub for the petrochemical industry. They were also the 'Gateway to the North', shipping much needed medical supplies, food, and other necessities to remote northern communities.
Industries continue to boom, and Edmonton remains a very popular spot for visitors and tourists from all over the world.
Today, Edmonton has grown to a population of over 650,000 people (as of 1998); the area covered is over 270 square miles!
What is Edmonton?
- Edmonton is the political and intellectual capital of Canada's province of Alberta.
- Greater Edmonton is a metropolitan centre with a population of 919,413 (2001) - encompassing 36 municipalities. It has one of the lowest population densities of any major North American city - about 67 times less than the population density of New York City!
- Edmonton is Canada's Festival City, due to the abundance of successful festivals, including North America's largest alternative theatre event, the Edmonton International Fringe Festival.
- Edmonton is also known as the City of Champions for its long history of successful professional and amateur sports teams.
- Edmonton is a tourism hot-spot, boasting the world's largest shopping mall, the largest stretch of urban parkland in North America and an array of diverse attractions, from the Great Divide waterfall (24 feet higher than Niagara Falls) to historic Fort Edmonton Park.
- Edmonton is a thriving centre for business, enjoying the most diverse economy in Canada!
Where is Edmonton?
- Edmonton is the largest metropolitan centre between Toronto and Vancouver, and Canada's fifth-largest city.
- Edmonton encompasses 670 square kilometres, making it one of the largest cities, by area, in North America — larger in area than Chicago, Philadelphia and Detroit. Edmonton's Census Metropoliton Area (CMA) is 9,537 square kilometres, an area slightly larger than the Mediterranean country of Cyprus!
- Edmonton is located near the geographic centre of the province of Alberta, a land mass nearly the same size as the state of Texas, almost two times larger than Germany and five times as large as England.
- Edmonton is near the geographic centre of Canada's western provinces, and the gateway to Canada's North (the main land route to the Yukon, the Northwest Territories and Alaska).
- Located on the 53rd latitude, Edmonton is a haven for summer and winter activities, with 17 hours of daylight in mid-summer and the magical aurora borealis (Northern Lights) in peak activity in mid-winter.
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