Rural land is described by the use of the terms Meridian, Range and Township. Land in Alberta is described as being west of the fourth, fifth or sixth meridian. These are north/south lines of longitude. The fourth meridian is the Alberta/Saskatchewan border; the fifth meridian runs through Stony Plain and Calgary; and the sixty meridian runs through DeBolt and Jasper. Between the meridians are vertical columns called ranges which are numbered from east to west of each meridian. Townships are horizontal rows crossing the meridians and ranges. The townships begin with row number one at the U.S. border and continue up to row 126 adjacent to the Northwest Territories border. Each township contains 36 sections, measuring 36 square miles or approximately 93.2 square kilometres. Last updated: January 2021