Calgary

Calgary is the largest city in the province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in a region of hills and plateaus, approximately 80 km east of the Rocky Mountains.

Calgary's economy is focused primarily on the oil industry, although agriculture, tourism and high technology also contribute to the rapid economic development of the city. It is also a well-known destination for being a place to practice ecotourism and winter sports: in 1988 Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Winter Games. Calgary is also the host of several annual festivals, such as the Calgary Stampede, the Calgary Folk Music Festival, the Lilac Festival, the GlobalFest and the second Caribbean festival of importance in the country, the Carifest.

Its name comes from that of a beach located on the Isle of Mull, in Scotland. Also, the official name of the city in Scottish Gaelic is Calgarraidh.

Calgary enjoys a continuous climate with long and dry but variable winters and short, warm summers. The climate is greatly influenced by the elevation of the city and the proximity of the Rocky Mountains. Although the cold winters of Calgary can be very uncomfortable, warm and dry winds called "chinooks" regularly blow from the Pacific Ocean during the winter months, giving the inhabitants of the city a truce to the cold. On occasion, these winds have caused the temperature to rise more than 15 ° C and may last several days. The Chinooks are such a regular feature of the Calgary winters that only one month (January 1950) did not record thaw of more than 100 years of weather observations. More than half of the winter days have a maximum temperature above 0 ° C. Occasionally, the winter temperature can rise to more than 20 ° C.  

Calgary is recognized as a Canadian leader in the oil and gas industry, as well as being a leader in economic expansion. Its high per capita income, low level of unemployment and high GDP per capita have benefited from the increase in sales and prices due to a resource boom and increased economic diversification. Because of these advantages, Calgary has been designated as a global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network.

Calgary benefits from a relatively strong job market in Alberta, it is part of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, one of the fastest growing regions in the country. It is the headquarters of many of the major companies related to oil and gas, and many financial services companies have grown up around them. Small businesses and small levels of self-employment are also among the highest in Canada. It is also an important distribution hub and transport hub with high retail sales.