Northern Alberta

Coordinates: 57°N 115°W / 57°N 115°W / 57; -115
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Northern Alberta
Geographic region
Left-right from top:
Whitecourt
Peace River
Slave Lake

Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.

An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the centre of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor, including most of the province's landmass as well as its capital, Edmonton. Other schemes place Edmonton and its surrounding farmland in Central Alberta, limiting Northern Alberta to the northern half of the province, where forestry, oil, and gas are the dominant industries.

Its primary industry is

boreal forests of this region. As of 2011, the region had a population of approximately 386,000.[1]

Geography

Various definitions exist of Northern Alberta's boundaries. The definition used by the Northern Alberta Development Council, an agency of the provincial government, includes the communities of Whitecourt, Athabasca, Saddle Lake, St. Paul, and Cold Lake, while excluding Hinton, Edson, Mayerthorpe, and Westlock. This definition is also used by the University of Alberta to define eligibility for northern research grants.[2]

The region consists of

boreal forest and muskeg
in the north.

The southwest of the region is part of the

Peace River
and its tributaries.

Northern Alberta is crossed by the

Peace-Athabasca Delta, that drains through the Slave River towards the Arctic Ocean
.

The

Caribou Mountains Wildland Park. The adjacent Wood Buffalo National Park is Canada's
largest protected area.

Other tourist attractions in Northern Alberta include the

Oil Sands Discovery Centre.[3]

Northern Alberta contains several diamond bearing diatremes associated with kimberlite fields, including the Buffalo Head Hills and Birch Mountains kimberlite fields which in turn form the Northern Alberta kimberlite province.

Fauna

Animals of Northern Alberta include the

northern coyotes (Canis latrans incolatus), wolverines (Gulo gulo), and mountain lions (Puma concolor). Multiple elusive and out-of-range animals have been reported in this region, including a singular gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) was recorded close to Lake Athabasca,[4] and multiple vagrant birds including northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), wandering tattlers (Tringa incana),[5] and northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe).[5] Alberta also has reports of wild boars (Sus scrofa
) coming into the province.

Infrastructure

Transportation

CANAMEX corridor. Other important routes are the Mackenzie Highway and Bicentennial Highway in the northwest, the Northern Woods and Water Route in the southeast and Highway 63 in the east.[6]

Fort McMurray Airport
are regional air transportation hubs.

Health regions

Northern Alberta's health region is controlled by Alberta Health Services.

Politics

On a provincial level, Northern Alberta is represented in the

Grande Prairie Wapiti, Lac La Biche-St. Paul, Lesser Slave Lake, and Peace River
.

Communities

See also

References

  1. ^ "NADC Area Profile : An Economic Description of the Region" (PDF). Nadc.ca. May 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2022.
  2. ^ "UofA Northern Research Awards". UAlberta North. Retrieved October 18, 2019.
  3. ^ Travel Alberta. "Attractions in Alberta". Archived from the original on 2009-03-03. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
  4. ^ "Recovery Strategy for the Grey Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in Canada" (PDF). Government of Canada. 2017.
  5. ^ a b Scott, David (ed.). "Alberta Rare Bird Reports". University of Lethbridge Library. Retrieved 2023-02-22.
  6. Alberta Motor Association. "Northern Alberta - Road report"
    . Retrieved 2007-01-11.

External links

57°N 115°W / 57°N 115°W / 57; -115

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