Central Alberta

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Central Alberta (also named Alberta's Heartland) is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.

Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy make up an important part of the economy.

Contents 1 Geography 2 Demographics 3 Infrastructure 4 Communities 5 See also 6 References 7 External links

[edit] Geography

Central Alberta is bordered by the Canadian Rockies in the west, Southern Alberta and the Calgary Region to the south, Saskatchewan to the east and Northern Alberta to the north. It completely surrounds the Edmonton Capital Region.

The North Saskatchewan River crosses the region from west to east. Other rivers traversing the area are Red Deer River, Battle River, Athabasca River, Pembina River, Brazeau River, Beaver River.

Tourist attractions in the region include: Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions, the Canadian Petroleum Discovery Centre in Leduc, Discovery Wildlife Park, Kerry Wood Nature Centre and Gaetz Lake Sanctuary in Red Deer, Nordegg Heritage Centre and Mine Site, Reynolds-Alberta Museum, Rocky Mountain House National Historic Site, Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village, Wild Rapids Waterslides and Stephannson House Provincial Historic Site near Sylvan Lake.^[1]

Regional and National parks include Elk Island National Park, William A. Switzer Provincial Park, Sylvan Lake Provincial Park, Dry Island Buffalo Jump Provincial Park, Big Knife Provincial Park, Pigeon Lake Provincial Park.

A series of roadside attractions known as the Giants of the Prairies can be found in Central Alberta. Large mushrooms in Vilna, giant Perogy (Ukrainian dumpling) in Glendon, huge Kubasa (Ukrainian garlic sausage) in Mundare, large Pysanka (Ukrainian easter egg) in Vegreville, an UFO Landing Pad in St. Paul and a giant duck in Andrew.

[edit] Demographics

Central Alberta has a population of 240,368 (2004).^[2]

Sector	Labour force	% of total
Agriculture	16,530	12.83%
Mining	9,690	7.52%
Manufacturing	8,610	6.68%
Construction	11,340	8.80%
Transportation and utilities	5,945	4.61%
Retail and wholesale	19,150	14.87%
Finance	4,830	3.75%
Business and community services	48,360	37.54%
Public administration	4,340	3.37%
Total	128,825	100.00%

[edit] Infrastructure

Transportation

Queen Elisabeth II Highway crosses the region from south to north, and the Yellowhead Highway from east to west. Other major highways include Highway 9, Highway 21, Veteran Memorial Highway, David Thomson Highway, Cowboy Trail, Grizzly Trail and Buffalo Trail. Poundmaker Trail runs through the north-east of the region.^[3]

Health Regions

The following health regions are located in the region: Aspen Regional Health Authority, David Thompson Regional Health Authority and East Central Health.

Education

Post-secondary institutions in the region are Red Deer College and Olds College.

[edit] Communities

Five cities are located in Central Alberta, with Camrose, Wetaskiwin and Red Deer in the heartland of the region, while Cold Lake and Lloydminster are close to the Saskatchewan border.

The region spreads across several census divisions: 7, 8, 9, 10, 14 and parts of divisions 11, 12 and 13.

Towns Barrhead Bashaw Bentley Blackfalds Bonnyville Bowden Castor Coronation Daysland Drayton Valley Eckville Edson Elk Point Hardisty Hinton Innisfail Killam Lacombe Mayerthorpe Millet Mundare Onoway Penhold Ponoka Provost Rimbey Rocky Mountain House Sedgewick Smoky Lake St. Paul Stettler Sylvan Lake Tofield Two Hills Vegreville Vermilion Viking Wainwright Westlock Whitecourt

Villages Alberta Beach Alix Alliance Amisk Bawfl Big Valley Bittern Lake Botha Breton Caroline Chauvin Clive Clyde Czar Derwent Dewberry Donalda Edberg Edgerton Ferintosh Forestburg Gadsby Galahad Glendon Halkirk Hay Lakes Heisler Holden Hughenden Innisfree Irma Kitscoty Lougheed Mannville Marwayne Minburn Myrnam New Norway Paradise Valley Rosalind Ryley Sangudo Spring Lake Strome Thorhild Vilna Waskatenau Willingdon

Counties Barrhead Beaver Bonnyville Brazeau Camrose Clearwater Flagstaff Lac Ste. Anne Lacombe Lamont Minburn Paintearth Ponoka Provost Red Deer Smoky Lake St. Paul Stettler Thorhild Two Hills Vermilion Wainwright Westlock Wetaskiwin Woodlands Yellowhead

[edit] See also

• List of regions of Canada

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Central Alberta
• Travel Alberta - Central Alberta
• Alberta Regions - Alberta Heritage

v • d • e Subdivisions of Alberta
Census divisions	1 · 2 · 3 · 4 · 5 · 6 · 7 · 8 · 9 · 10 · 11 · 12 · 13 · 14 · 15 · 16 · 17 · 18 · 19
Regions	Calgary Region · Edmonton Capital Region · Calgary-Edmonton Corridor · Central Alberta · Northern Alberta · Southern Alberta
Cities	Airdrie · Brooks · Calgary · Camrose · Cold Lake · Edmonton · Fort Saskatchewan · Grande Prairie · Leduc · Lethbridge · Lloydminster · Medicine Hat · Red Deer · Spruce Grove · St. Albert · Wetaskiwin
Communities	Counties and municipal districts · Towns · Villages · Hamlets · Indian reserves · Métis
Other	School districts  · Regional Health Authorities
Subdivisions of:  BC · SK · MB · ON · QC · NB · NS · PEI · NL · YU · NT · NU

v • d • e Topics on Alberta
History	Fur trade • Numbered Treaties • Alberta Act • Oil exploration • Social Credit • Historic sites
Politics	Political parties • Elections (last) • Government • Lieutenant Governor • Cabinet • Premiers (current) • Speaker • Legislature • Electoral districts (federal)
Geography	Demographics • Mountains • Provincial parks • Lakes • Rivers
Communities	Counties and Municipal Districts • Towns • Villages • Hamlets • Indian Reserves • Métis • Census divisions
Economy	Companies • ATB • Tourism • Highways • Airports
Culture	Education • Festivals • First Nations • Franco-Albertan • Music • People • Symbols • Flag • Coat of arms • Anthem