Northern Alberta

Northern Alberta is a geographic region located in the Canadian province of Alberta.
An informally defined cultural region, the boundaries of Northern Alberta are not fixed. Under some schemes, the region encompasses everything north of the centre of the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor, including most of the province's landmass as well as its capital, Edmonton. Other schemes place Edmonton and its surrounding farmland in Central Alberta, limiting Northern Alberta to the northern half of the province, where forestry, oil, and gas are the dominant industries.
==Geography==
Various definitions exist of Northern Alberta's boundaries. The definition used by the Northern Alberta Development Council, an agency of the provincial government, includes the communities of Whitecourt, Athabasca, Saddle Lake, St. Paul, and Cold Lake, while excluding Hinton, Edson, Mayerthorpe, and Westlock. This definition is also used by the University of Alberta to define eligibility for northern research grants.
The southwest of the region is part of the Peace Country, an area that stretches into northeastern British Columbia consisting of fertile prairie, ranchland, and farmland along the Peace River and its tributaries.
==Communities==
;Cities
*Grande Prairie
;Towns
*Athabasca
*Beaverlodge
*Fairview
*Falher
*Fox Creek
*Grimshaw
*High Level
*High Prairie
*Manning
*McLennan
*Peace River
*Rainbow Lake
*Sexsmith
*Slave Lake
*Spirit River
*Swan Hills
*Valleyview
*Wembley
;Villages
*Berwyn
*Boyle
*Donnelly
*Girouxville
*Hines Creek
*Hythe
*Nampa
*Rycroft
;Summer villages
*Bondiss
*Island Lake
*Island Lake South
*Mewatha Beach
*South Baptiste
*Sunset Beach
*West Baptiste
*Whispering Hills
;Specialized municipalities
*Lac La Biche County
**Lac La Biche (urban service area)
*Mackenzie County
**La Crete (hamlet)
*Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo
**Fort Chipewyan (hamlet)
**Fort McMurray (urban service area)
;Improvement districts
*Improvement District No. 24 (Wood Buffalo National Park)
*Improvement District No. 349
;Municipal districts
*Athabasca County
*Big Lakes County
*Birch Hills County
*Clear Hills County
*Fairview No. 136, M.D. of
*Grande Prairie No. 1, County of
**Clairmont (hamlet)
*Greenview No. 16, M.D. of
**Grande Cache (hamlet)
*Lesser Slave River No. 124, M.D. of
*Northern Lights, County of
*Northern Sunrise County
*Opportunity No. 17, M.D. of
**Wabasca (hamlet)
*Peace No. 135, M.D. of
*Saddle Hills County
*Smoky River No. 130, M.D. of
*Spirit River No. 133, M.D. of
==See also==
*List of regions of Canada
==References==
==External links==
*NADC - Northern Alberta Development Council
*Travel Alberta - Alberta North
*Alberta Regions - Alberta Heritage
*DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com featuring Villages, Towns, Cities, Parks and Lakes of Northern Alberta
 
Category:Geographic regions of Alberta