Canadian Prairies
Canadian Prairies
Prairies canadiennes ( Hartney, Manitoba | |
---|---|
Location | Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba in Canada |
Area | |
• Total | 1,780,650.6 km2 (687,513.0 sq mi)[1] |
Highest elevation | 3,747 m (12,293 ft) |
The Canadian Prairies (usually referred to as simply the Prairies in Canada) is a region in
The prairies in Canada are a
Main climates
The core climate of the Canadian prairie region is defined as a semi-
Precipitation events in the Canadian prairies are very important to study as these locations make up 80% of the country's
City | Province | July | January | Annual precipitation | Plant hardiness zone | Average growing season (in days) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lethbridge[17] | AB | 26 °C/10 °C (79 °F/50 °F) | 0 °C/-12 °C (32 °F/10 °F) | 380 mm (14.9 in) | 4B | 119 |
Calgary[18] | AB | 23 °C/9 °C (73 °F/48 °F) | -1 °C/-13 °C (30 °F/9 °F) | 419 mm (16.4 in) | 4A | 117 |
Medicine Hat[19] | AB | 28 °C/12 °C (82 °F/54 °F) | −5 °C/-16 °C (23 °F/3 °F) | 323 mm (12.7 in) | 4B | 134 |
Edmonton[20] | AB | 23 °C/12 °C (73 °F/54 °F) | −6 °C/-15 °C (21 °F/5 °F) | 456 mm (17.9 in) | 4A | 135 |
Grande Prairie[21] | AB | 23 °C/10 °C (73 °F/50 °F) | −8 °C/-19 °C (18 °F/-2 °F) | 445 mm (17.5 in) | 3B | 117 |
Regina[22] | SK | 26 °C/12 °C (79 °F/54 °F) | −9 °C/-20 °C (16 °F/-4 °F) | 390 mm (15.3 in) | 3B | 119 |
Saskatoon[23] | SK | 25 °C/12 °C (77 °F/54 °F) | −10 °C/-21 °C (14 °F/-9 °F) | 354 mm (13.8 in) | 3B | 117 |
Prince Albert[24] | SK | 24 °C/12 °C (75 °F/54 °F) | −11 °C/-23 °C (12 °F/-9 °F) | 428 mm (16.8 in) | 3A | 108 |
Brandon[25] | MB | 25 °C/11 °C (77 °F/54 °F) | −11 °C/-22 °C (12 °F/-11 °F) | 474 mm (18.6 in) | 3B | 119 |
Winnipeg[26] | MB | 25 °C/12 °C (77 °F/55 °F) | −11 °C/-21 °C (12 °F/-6 °F) | 521 mm (20.5 in) | 4A | 121 |
Physical geography
Although the Prairie Provinces region is named for the prairies located within Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba, the physical geography of the three provinces is quite diverse, consisting of portions of the
Prairies
Three main grassland types occur in the Canadian prairies:
More than half of the remaining native grassland in the Canadian prairies is mixed. Though widespread in southern Saskatchewan and southeastern Alberta, because of extensive cattle grazing, it is estimated that only 24% of the original mixed prairie grassland remains.[29] Fescue prairie occurs in the moister regions, occupying the northern extent of the prairies in central and southwestern Alberta and west-central Saskatchewan.[30]
The southwestern Canadian prairies, supporting brown and black soil types, are semi-arid and highly prone to frequent and severe droughts.[31] The zones around the cities of Regina and immediately east of Calgary are also very dry. Most heavy precipitation quickly dissipates by the time it passes Cheadle on its way heading east.[31] In an average year, southern Saskatchewan receives between 30–51 cm (12–20 in) of precipitation, with the majority falling between April and June. Frost from October to April (and sometimes even early May) limits the growing season for certain crops.[28]
The eastern section of the Canadian prairies in Manitoba is well watered with several large lakes such as Lake Winnipeg and several large rivers. The area also gets reasonable amounts of precipitation. The middle sections of Alberta and Saskatchewan are also wetter than the south and have better farmland, despite having a shorter frost-free season.[32] The areas around Edmonton and Saskatoon are especially notable as good farmland. Both lie in the northern area of the Palliser's Triangle, and are within aspen parkland a transitional prairie ecozone.[33][8]
Further north, the area becomes too cold for most agriculture besides
Demographics
Rank | Census metropolitan area | Population (2021) | Population (2016) | Province |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Calgary | 1,481,806 | 1,392,609 | Alberta |
2 | Edmonton | 1,418,118 | 1,321,426 | Alberta |
3 | Winnipeg | 834,678 | 778,489 | Manitoba |
4 | Saskatoon | 317,480 | 295,095 | Saskatchewan |
5 | Regina | 249,217 | 236,481 | Saskatchewan |
In the Canadian 2021 Census, the Canadian prairie provinces had a population of 6,737,293 consisting of 4,262,635 in Alberta, 1,342,153 in Manitoba, and 1,132,505 in Saskatchewan, up 4.6% from 6,443,892 in 2016.[1] The three provinces have a combined area of 1,780,650.6 km2 (687,513.0 sq mi), consisting of 640,081.87 km2 (247,136.99 sq mi) in Alberta, 552,329.52 km2 (213,255.62 sq mi) in Manitoba, and 588,239.21 km2 (227,120.43 sq mi) in Saskatchewan.[1]
Growth
Some of the prairie region of Canada has seen rapid growth from a boom in oil production since the mid-20th century.[35] According to StatsCanada, the prairie provinces had a population of 5,886,906 in 2011. In 2016, the population had grown by 9.5% to 6,443,892.[36]
Economy
In the mid 20th century, the economy of the prairies exploded, due to the oil boom, and introduced a growth of jobs. The primary industries are agriculture and services.
In 2014, the global market for oil fell and led to a recession, impacting the economy dramatically. Alberta still has an oil-dominant economy even as the traditional oil wells dry up; there are oil sands further north (i.e. Fort McMurray) that continue to provide jobs to extract, drill and refine the oil.[5] Saskatchewan, in particular, in the early 20th century grew economically due to the Canadian agricultural boom and produce large crops of wheat.[3] It is said to have a "one-crop economy" due to such dependency on this crop alone, but after 1945 the economy took another turn with technological advancements that allowed for the discovery of uranium, oil, and potash.[3]
Culture and politics
The Prairies are distinguished from the rest of Canada by cultural and political traits. The oldest influence on Prairie culture are the
During their settlement by Europeans, the prairies were settled in distinct ethnic
Southern Alberta is renowned for its cowboy culture, which developed when real open range ranching was practiced in the 1880s.[5] Canada's first rodeo, the Raymond Stampede, was established in 1902. These influences are also evident in the music of Canada's Prairie Provinces. This can be attributed partially to the massive influx of American settlers who began to migrate to Alberta (and to a lesser extent, Saskatchewan) in the late 1880s because of the lack of available land in the United States.
The Prairie Provinces have given rise to the "prairie protest" movements. Radical solutions are sometimes considered sound in the more open western culture. Organized Farmer groups and politicized labour groups were a feature of the inter-war years. The One Big Union was founded on the Prairies; the
These political movements (both of the left and right) tend to feed off of well established feelings of Western alienation, and each one represents a distinct challenge to the perceived Central Canadian elite.[38]
The Prairies continue to have a wide range of political representation. While the Conservative Party of Canada has widespread support throughout the region at both federal and provincial levels, the New Democratic Party holds seats at the provincial level in all three provinces, and takes turns with Conservatives or another right-wing party at provincial government. The NDP holds seats at the federal level in Alberta and Manitoba. The Liberal Party of Canada often holds seats in Alberta and Manitoba; it presently holds four federal seats in Winnipeg, while the Manitoba Liberal Party holds one seat in Manitoba.
See also
- Dominion Land Survey
- High Plains (United States)
- List of regions of Canada
- Llano Estacado
- Natural Resources Acts
- Shortgrass prairie
- Ecozones of Canada
References
- ^ a b c "Population and dwelling counts, for Canada, provinces and territories, 2011 and 2006 censuses". Statistics Canada. 2012-01-24. Archived from the original on 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2012-03-17.
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- ^ a b c d McCullough, J.J. "The Prairies". The Canada Guide. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
- ^ "Prairies Ecozone". www.ecozones.ca.
- ^ a b c d e f Chepkemoi, Joyce (25 April 2017). "Facts About the Canadian Prairie Provinces". WorldAtlas. Retrieved 8 April 2019.
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- ^ "Prairies Ecozone". Ecological Framework of Canada. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016.
- ^ a b "Wide open spaces, but for how long?". The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. The Royal Canadian Geographical Society. 16 October 2014. Archived from the original on 3 April 2016.
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- ^ a b c d Powell, J.M (1978). "Climate Classifications of the Prairie Provinces of Canada" (PDF). Northern Forest Research Center.
- ^ "Köppen climate classification". hanschen.org.
- ^ "Agriculture and Food | The Canadian Encyclopedia". www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca.
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- ^ Durage, Samantha; Wirasinghe, S.C; Ruwanpura, Janaka. "Mitigation of the impact of tornadoes in the Canadian Prairies" (PDF). Canadian Risk and Hazards Network. University of Calgary.
- ^ "Canada's Plant Hardiness". Canada's Plant Hardiness. Natural Resources Canada. Archived from the original on 5 March 2016. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
- ^ "Lethbridge A, Alberta". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010. Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archived from the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
- Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archivedfrom the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2015.
- ^ "Medicine Hat A, Alberta". Canadian Climate Normals 1981–2010 Medicine Hat. Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archived from the original on 6 October 2014. Retrieved 14 May 2014.
- ^ "Edmonton City Centre Airport". Canadian Climate Normals 1981−2010. Environment Canada. August 19, 2013. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016. Retrieved September 10, 2013.
- ^ "Grande Prairie A". Canadian Climate Normals 1981−2010. Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archived from the original on May 14, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
- Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archivedfrom the original on 12 May 2014. Retrieved 12 May 2014.
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- Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archivedfrom the original on 8 May 2014. Retrieved 7 May 2014.
- Environment Canada. 2013-09-25. Archivedfrom the original on February 11, 2015. Retrieved May 7, 2014.
- ^ a b Baldwin, D. J., Desloges, J. R., & Band, L. E. (2000). "Physical geography of Ontario" (Ecology of a managed terrestrial landscape: patterns and processes of forest landscapes in Ontario): 12–29.
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(help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ doi:10.4141/cjss75-007.)
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ S2CID 23604851.
- ^ "Prairie Grasslands and Parkland". Archived from the original on 2010-05-27.
- ^ .
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- ^ "Prairies Ecozone". Ecological Framework of Canada. Government of Canada. Archived from the original on 2 June 2016. Retrieved 23 May 2016.
- ISSN 1181-8700.
- ^ "Atlantic unemployment tonic: oil sands". The Globe and Mail. Archived from the original on 2008-10-20.
- ^ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2017-05-04. Retrieved 2017-05-04.
{{cite web}}
: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link) - ^ Friesen, G (1987). The Canadian prairies: A history. University of Toronto Press.
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Further reading
- Alberta Encyclopedia Online (2005)
- Archer, John H. Saskatchewan: A History (1980)
- Barnhart, Gordon L., ed. Saskatchewan Premiers of the Twentieth Century. (2004). 418 pp.
- Bennett, John W. and Seena B. Kohl. Settling the Canadian-American West, 1890–1915: Pioneer Adaptation and Community Building. An Anthropological History. (1995). 311 pp. online edition Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Danysk, Cecilia. Hired Hands: Labour and the Development of Prairie Agriculture, 1880–1930. (1995). 231 pp.
- Emery, George. The Methodist Church on the Prairies, 1896–1914. McGill-Queen's U. Press, 2001. 259 pp.
- The Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan: A Living Legacy. U. of Regina Canadian Plains Research Center, 2005. online Archived 2017-01-31 at the Wayback Machine 1071 pp in print edition
- Fairbanks, C. and S.B. Sundberg. Farm Women on the Prairie Frontier. (1983)
- Friesen, Gerald (1987), The Canadian prairies: a history, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0-8020-6648-0
- Hodgson, Heather, ed. Saskatchewan Writers: Lives Past and Present. Regina: Canadian Plains Research Center, 2004. 247 pp.
- Jones, David C. Empire of Dust: Settling and Abandoning the Prairie Dry Belt. (1987) 316 pp.
- Keahey, Deborah. Making It Home: Place in Canadian Prairie Literature. (1998). 178 pp.
- Kononenko, Natalie "Vernacular religion on the prairies: negotiating a place for the unquiet dead," Canadian Slavonic Papers 60, no. 1-2 (2018)
- Langford, N. "Childbirth on the Canadian Prairies 1880-1930." Journal of Historical Sociology, 1995. Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 278–302.
- Langford, Nanci Louise. "First Generation and Lasting Impressions: The Gendered Identities of Prairie Homestead Women." PhD dissertation U. of Alberta 1994. 229 pp. DAI 1995 56(4): 1544-A. DANN95214 Fulltext: ProQuest Dissertations & Theses
- Laycock, David. Populism and Democratic Thought in the Canadian Prairies, 1910 to 1945. (1990). 369 pp.
- Lorenz, Stacy L. "'A Lively Interest on the Prairies': Western Canada, the Mass Media, and a 'World of Sport' 1870-1939." Journal of Sport History 27.2 (2000): 195–227. online
- Melnyk, George. The Literary History of Alberta, Vol. 1: From Writing-on-Stone to World War Two. U. of Alberta Press, 1998. 240 pp.
- Morton, Arthur S. and Chester Martin, History of prairie settlement (1938) 511pp
- Morton, W. L. Manitoba, a History University of Toronto Press, 1957 online edition
- Norrie, K. H. "The Rate of Settlement of the Canadian Prairies, 1870–1911", Journal of Economic History, Vol. 35, No. 2 (Jun., 1975), pp. 410–427 in JSTOR; statistical models
- Palmer, Howard. The Settlement of the West (1977) online edition Archived 2011-08-18 at the Wayback Machine
- Pitsula, James M. "Disparate Duo" Beaver 2005 85(4): 14–24, a comparison of Saskatchewan and Alberta, Fulltext in EBSCO
- Rollings-Magnusson, Sandra. "Canada's Most Wanted: Pioneer Women on the Western Prairies". Canadian Review of Sociology and Anthropology 2000 37(2): 223–238. Ebsco
- Swyripa, Frances. Storied Landscapes: Ethno-Religious Identity and the Canadian Prairies (University of Manitoba Press, 2010) 296 pp. ISBN 978-0-88755-720-0.
- Thompson, John Herd. Forging the Prairie West (1998).
- Wardhaugh, Robert A. Mackenzie King and the Prairie West (2000). 328 pp.
- Waiser, Bill, and John Perret. Saskatchewan: A New History (2005).
Historiography
- Francis, R. Douglas. "In search of a prairie myth: A survey of the intellectual and cultural historiography of prairie Canada." Journal of Canadian Studies 24#3 (1989): 44+ online
- Ingles, Ernie B (2009), Peel's Bibliography of the Canadian Prairies to 1953, University of Toronto Press, ISBN 978-0-8020-4825-7
- Wardhaugh, Robert A., ed. Toward Defining the Prairies: Region, Culture, and History. (2001). 234 pp.
- Wardhaugh, Robert; Calder, Alison (2005), History, literature, and the writing of the Canadian Prairies, University of Manitoba Press, ISBN 978-0-88755-682-1310 pp.