What is Edmonton the capital of?
Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. It became the provincial capital on the 1st of September 1905, when Alberta was formed as a new province.
Questions about Edmonton
Short answers, pulled from the story.
Why is Edmonton called the Gateway to the North?
Edmonton earned the nickname Gateway to the North because it serves as a staging point for large-scale oil sands projects in northern Alberta and diamond mining operations in the Northwest Territories. The identity was reinforced during the 1930s and 1940s when pilots like Wilfrid R. "Wop" May and Max Ward used Blatchford Field to deliver mail, food, and medicine to Northern Canada.
Where does the name Edmonton come from?
The name Edmonton traces to Adelmetone, an Old English place name appearing in the Domesday Book of 1086 meaning "farmstead or estate of Ēadhelm." William Tomison named the Hudson's Bay Company trading post after Edmonton, Middlesex, England, the hometown of the Lake family, at least five of whom were influential HBC members between 1696 and 1807.
What is the origin of Edmonton's City of Champions nickname?
The nickname City of Champions originated after an F4 tornado struck Edmonton on the 31st of July 1987, killing 27 people. Then-mayor Laurence Decore used the phrase to describe the community's response to the disaster, and it became an unofficial slogan of the city.
What is the population of Edmonton?
As of the 2021 census, Edmonton had a city population of 1,010,899 and a metropolitan population of 1,418,118. This makes it the fifth-largest city and the sixth-largest census metropolitan area in Canada, and the northernmost city in North America with a population over one million.
What is the first mosque in Canada and where is it located?
The Al-Rashid Mosque, which opened in Edmonton in 1938, was the first mosque established in Canada and the third in North America. A local Muslim woman, Hilwie Hamdon, met with the mayor to acquire the land and raised $5,000 for its construction.