Calgary, Alberta

A city in the province of Alberta in Canada, Calgary is situated towards the south of the province, in a region of hills and high plains east of the Rocky Mountains. As of 2001, the metropolitan population was 971,500 (Statistics Canada). It is the largest city in Alberta and the fifth largest in Canada.

Calgary's economy is largely centered on the petroleum industry, with agriculture and hi-tech industries contributing to the city's rapid economic growth.

The first European settlement in Calgary was by Sam Livingston[?] in the early 1870s, and became a post of the North West Mounted Police in 1875. When the Canadian Pacific Railway built a major station at the site, Calgary began to grow into a major commercial and agricultural centre. Calgary was officially incorporated as a city in 1894.

When oil was discovered in Alberta in the mid-20th century, Calgary became the centre of the accompanying oil boom. In the 1970s the city's population nearly doubled. With the announcement of the National Energy Program[?] in 1981 the oil boom started to subside. Calgary still attracts many new residents from the rest of Canada, and is one of Canada's wealthier cities.

The beef industry is also very important to Calgary, as it is a distribution centre for the outlying rural areas. In part because of this it home to the famous Calgary Stampede, a large festival and rodeo in July of each year.

Calgary is the site of educational institutions like the University of Calgary, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology[?] and Mount Royal College[?].

Sports teams in Calgary include the Calgary Flames of the National Hockey League and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League.