About Edmonton
City of Edmonton Chamber of Commerce
Edmonton is the capital of the province of Alberta, making it the seat of the provincial Crown.
It is on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farmland on the prairies.
It is the second largest city in Alberta after Calgary, with a population of 730,372 (2006), and is the hub of Canada's sixth largest census metropolitan area, with a metropolitan population of 1,034,945 (2006), making it the northernmost North American city with a metropolitan population over one million.
At 684 square kilometres (264 sq mi), the City of Edmonton covers an area larger than Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto or Montreal. Edmonton has one of the lowest population densities in North America, about 9.4% that of New York City.
A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian.
Edmonton serves as the northern anchor of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor (one of four regions that together comprise 50% of the Canadian population) and is a staging point for large-scale oilsands projects occurring in northern Alberta and large-scale diamond mining operations in the Northwest Territories.
Edmonton is Canada's second most populous provincial capital (after Toronto) and is a cultural, government and educational centre. It plays host to a year round slate of world-class festivals, earning it the title of "The Festival City".
It is home to North America's largest mall and Canada's largest historic park.
In 2004, Edmonton celebrated the centennial of its incorporation as a city.
Geography
Edmonton is located near the geographical centre of the province at an elevation of 668 metres (2,192 ft). The terrain in and around Edmonton is generally flat to gently rolling, with ravines and deep river valleys, such as the North Saskatchewan River valley.
Despite the Canadian Rockies lying as close to Edmonton as roughly 220 kilometres to the southwest (only a few hours' drive away), the city is too distant for any of its peaks to be seen from even its tallest buildings.
The North Saskatchewan River bisects the city and originates at the Columbia Icefield in Jasper National Park. It empties, via the Saskatchewan River, Lake Winnipeg, and the Nelson River, into Hudson Bay. It runs from the southwest to the northeast and is fed by numerous creeks throughout the city, such as Mill Creek and Whitemud Creek. This creates numerous ravines, many of which have been incorporated into the urban parkland.
Edmonton is situated at the boundary between prairie to the south and boreal forest to the north, in a transitional area known as aspen parkland. However, the aspen parkland in and around Edmonton has long since been heavily altered by farming and other human activities, such as oil and natural gas exploration.
Climate
Edmonton has a northern continental climate with extreme seasonal temperatures, although the city has milder winters than either Regina or Winnipeg, which are both located at a more southerly latitude.
It has mild summers and chilly winters, with the average daily temperatures ranging from -11.7°C (10.9°F) in January to 17.5°C (63.5°F) in July.
Annually, temperatures exceed 30°C (86°F) on an average of three days [but can occur often in the months of May through early September] and fall below −20°C (−4°F) on an average of twenty-eight days.
Typically, summer lasts from late June until late August, and the humidity is rarely uncomfortably high. Winter lasts from November through March and varies greatly in length and severity. Spring and autumn are both short and highly variable.
Information from Wikipedia