Calgary
A city in the province of Alberta, 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 2002, the metropolitan population was 993,200. By 2005 the population is expected to reach over 1.2 million. It is the largest city in Alberta and the third largest in Canada.
Calgary's economy is largely centred on the petroleum industry, with agriculture and high-tech industries contributing to the city's rapid economic growth. Calgary is Canada's wealthiest city, and Alberta is also the wealthiest province (based on per capita income).
Before Calgary was settled by white Europeans, it was the domain of the Blackfoot native, whose presence has been traced back 11,000 years. The first recorded European presence in the region around Calgary took place in 1787 and by 1860 settlers began arriving to hunt buffalo and sell illegal whisky.
The first recorded settler in Calgary was rancher Sam Livingston in the early 1870s, and in1875 the site became a post of the North West Mounted Police (now the RCMP). The detachment was assigned to protect the western plains from whiskey traders from the United States. Calgary was named by Colonel James Macleod after Calgary Bay on the Isle of Mull, Scotland.When the Canadian Pacific Railway constructed a major rail station in the city, Calgary began to grow into an important commercial and agricultural centre. (The Canadian Pacific Railway headquarters are in Calgary today.) 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. Calgary's economy grew when oil prices increased with the Arab Oil Boycott of 1974. The city's population grew from 325,000 in 1974 to 650,000. During this time, Calgary skyscrapers were constructed at a pace seen by few cities anywhere. With the announcement of the National Energy Program in 1981 the oil boom started to subside (The Program was cancelled in the Mid 80's by the Mulroney government, Calgary has since largely recovered).
Calgary remains the oil capital of Canada and second only to Toronto for corporate Head Offices. The beef industry is also very important to Calgary, as it is a distribution centre for the outlying rural areas. Lakeside Packers and Cargill Limited near Calgary are some of the most modern, state-of-the-art beef processing facilities in North America.
Calgary is rated as one of the cleanest, safest and friendliest cities in North America. It attracts many new residents from around the world and the rest of Canada.
In part because of this it home to the famous Calgary Stampede, a large festival and rodeo in July of each year. Calgary is affectionately called the Nashville of the North.
Calgary held the 1988 Winter Olympic Games.
Calgary is the site of three major post-secondary educational institutions: the University of Calgary, the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology, and Mount Royal College.
Professional sports teams in Calgary include the Calgary Flames of the
National Hockey League and the Calgary Stampeders of the Canadian Football League. The city also has an A-League Soccer franchise, the Calgary Mustangs. Calgary's multipupose arena, the Saddledome is shown at the right.
Calgary International Airport serves the city.
See also
- List of mayors of Calgary, Alberta
- List of the 100 largest cities in Canada
- List of the 100 largest metropolitan areas in Canada
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