northern alberta

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 oil and gas, with large heavy oil reserves being exploited at the

Athabasca oil sands

and Wabasca area in the east of the region.

Natural gas

is extracted in Peace region and Chinchaga-Rainbow Lake, Alberta, Rainbow areas in the west, and forestry and logging are also developed in the boreal forests of this region. As of 2011, the region had a population of approximately 386,000.

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, Alberta, Athabasca, Saddle Lake 125, Saddle Lake, St. Paul, Alberta, St. Paul, and Cold Lake, Alberta, Cold Lake, while excluding Hinton, Alberta, Hinton, Edson, Alberta, Edson, Mayerthorpe, and Westlock. This definition is also used by the University of Alberta to define eligibility for northern research grants.

The region consists of aspen parkland in the south, grading to boreal forest and muskeg in the north.

The southwest of the region is part of the Peace Country, an area that stretches into northeastern British Columbia consisting of fertile prairie, ranchland, and farmland along the Peace River (Canada), Peace River and its tributaries.

Northern Alberta is crossed by the Peace River and the Athabasca River, both of which eventually convene to form the Slave River that ultimately drains into the Arctic Ocean via Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River within the Northwest Territories. Other major rivers are Wapiti River, Wapiti, Smoky River, Smoky, Hay River (Canada), Hay, Chinchaga, Petitot Rivers in the west, Wabasca River in the center and Firebag River, Firebag and Clearwater River (Saskatchewan), Clearwater River in the east. Alberta, Alberta's two largest waterbodies, Lake Athabasca and Lake Claire (Alberta), Lake Claire are located in the wetlands of northeastern

Alberta

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

The Caribou Mountains (Alberta), Caribou Mountains are an elevated plateau in the relatively flat Albertan north which provide core habitat for an endangered woodland caribou herd. This area is conserved by the Caribou Mountains Wildland Park. The adjacent Wood Buffalo National Park is Canada, Canada's largest protected area.

Other tourist attractions in Northern Alberta include the Fort McMurray Historical Society-Heritage Park, Historic Dunvegan, Alberta, Dunvegan, Kimiwan Birdwalk and Interpretive Centre, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory in the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, Muskoseepi Park, and the Athabasca Oil Sands, Oil Sands Discovery Centre.

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

Infrastructure

Transportation

Alberta Highway 43, Highway 43 and Alberta Highway 2, Highway 2 pass through the southwest of the region, this being the end of the CANAMEX corridor. Other important routes are the Mackenzie Highway and Alberta Highway 88, Bicentennial Highway in the northwest, the Northern Woods and Water Route in the southeast and Alberta Highway 63, Highway 63 in the east.

Grande Prairie Airport, Peace River Airport, and Fort McMurray Airport are regional air transportation hubs.

Health regions

Northern Alberta's Health regions of Canada, health region is controlled by Alberta Health Services.

Politics

On a provincial level, Northern Alberta is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by Alberta Legislature, Members of the Legislative Assembly elected in the ridings of Athabasca-Redwater, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Bonnyville-Cold Lake, Dunvegan-Central Peace, Fort McMurray-Conklin, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie Smoky, Grande Prairie Wapiti, Lac La Biche-St. Paul, Lesser Slave Lake (electoral district), Lesser Slave Lake, and Peace River (provincial electoral district), Peace River.

Communities

;Cities
*Grande Prairie

;Towns
*Athabasca, Alberta, Athabasca
*Beaverlodge
*Fairview, Alberta, Fairview
*Falher, Alberta, Falher
*Fox Creek, Alberta, Fox Creek
*Grimshaw, Alberta, Grimshaw
*High Level, Alberta, High Level
*High Prairie
*Manning, Alberta, Manning
*McLennan, Alberta, McLennan
*Peace River, Alberta, Peace River
*Rainbow Lake, Alberta, Rainbow Lake
*Sexsmith, Alberta, Sexsmith
*Slave Lake, Alberta, Slave Lake
*Spirit River, Alberta, Spirit River
*Swan Hills, Alberta, Swan Hills
*Valleyview, Alberta, Valleyview
*Wembley, Alberta, Wembley

;Villages
*Berwyn, Alberta, Berwyn
*Boyle, Alberta, Boyle
*Donnelly, Alberta, Donnelly
*Girouxville, Alberta, Girouxville
*Hines Creek, Alberta, Hines Creek
*Hythe, Alberta, Hythe
*Nampa, Alberta, Nampa
*Rycroft, Alberta, Rycroft

;Summer villages
*Bondiss, Alberta, Bondiss
*Island Lake, Alberta, Island Lake
*Island Lake South, Alberta, Island Lake South
*Mewatha Beach, Alberta, Mewatha Beach
*South Baptiste, Alberta, South Baptiste
*Sunset Beach, Alberta, Sunset Beach
*West Baptiste, Alberta, West Baptiste
*Whispering Hills, Alberta, Whispering Hills

;Specialized municipalities
*Lac La Biche County
**Lac La Biche, Alberta, Lac La Biche (urban service area)
*Mackenzie County
**La Crete (Hamlet (place), hamlet)
*Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
**Fort Chipewyan, Alberta, Fort Chipewyan (hamlet)
**Fort McMurray (urban service area)

;Improvement districts
*Wood Buffalo National Park, Improvement District No. 24 (Wood Buffalo National Park)
*Improvement District No. 349

;Municipal districts
*Athabasca County
*Big Lakes County
*Birch Hills County
*Clear Hills County
*Municipal District of Fairview No. 136, Fairview No. 136, M.D. of
*County of Grande Prairie No. 1, Grande Prairie No. 1, County of
**Clairmont, Alberta, Clairmont (hamlet)
*Municipal District of Greenview No. 16, Greenview No. 16, M.D. of
**Grande Cache (hamlet)
*Municipal District of Lesser Slave River No. 124, Lesser Slave River No. 124, M.D. of
*County of Northern Lights, Northern Lights, County of
*Northern Sunrise County
*Municipal District of Opportunity No. 17, Opportunity No. 17, M.D. of
**Wabasca, Alberta, Wabasca (hamlet)
*Municipal District of Peace No. 135, Peace No. 135, M.D. of
*Saddle Hills County
*Municipal District of Smoky River No. 130, Smoky River No. 130, M.D. of
*Municipal District of Spirit River No. 133, Spirit River No. 133, M.D. of

See also

*List of regions of Canada

References

External links

NADC
- Northern Alberta Development Council
Travel Alberta
- Alberta North

- Alberta Heritage
DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com featuring Villages, Towns, Cities, Parks and Lakes of Northern Alberta

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Northern Alberta,
Geographic regions of Alberta