Edmonton

Edmonton is the capital of the Canadian province of Alberta, as well as the seat of its powers and administration. It is located in the central part of the province, one of the most fertile areas of the Canadian plains, around the North Saskatchewan River, 812,201 people live in Edmonton, which makes it the second most populous city in the province, behind Calgary, the second provincial capital with the most inhabitants after Toronto and the fifth in Canada. In addition, its metropolitan area is the sixth most populated in the country, with a population of 1,034,945 inhabitants.

The city covers 683 km², an area larger than that of Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto or Montreal. However, it has one of the lowest population densities in North America, about 9.4% of that of New York. The Edmonton resident is known as an Edmontonian.

Edmonton serves as a link to the northern area of the "Calgary-Edmonton Corridor," one of the four regions that together comprise 50% of Canada's population. It organizes large-scale tar sands projects in northern Alberta, as well as diamond mining projects in the Northwest Territories.

Edmonton is the main economic centre of northern and central Alberta, and an important centre for the oil and gas industry (97% of the province's oil industry is located in the Edmonton metropolitan services area).

Edmonton has traditionally been the centre of Alberta's petrochemical industries, earning it the nickname "Canada's Oil Capital" in the 1940s.

Although it seems that Edmonton is an economy focused on oil and gas, it is actually the second most diversified economy in Canada. One of the main sectors is technology, focused on important companies such as IBM, Telus, Intuit Canada, Canadian Western Bank, BioWare, Matrikon, General Electric, and Stantec Inc.

Edmonton has a continental climate, with extreme seasonal temperatures, although its winters are somewhat milder than those of Regina or Winnipeg, both cities located at a more southerly latitude. Summers in Edmonton are warm and winters cold, with average daytime temperatures ranging from -10.4 ° C in January to 17.7 ° C in July. Approximately 30 ° C is exceeded four days a year, and down to -20 ° C for an average of 28 days a year.