Calgary
| Calgary | |||
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 Downtown Calgary, Canada Olympic Park , Calgary Zoo, The Bow Tower, Peace Bridge, Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary Stampede , Stephen Avenue |
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| Motto : Onward (forward) | |||
| Location in Alberta | |||
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| State : |
 Canada
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| Province : | Alberta | ||
| Region: | Calgary region | ||
| Coordinates : | 51 ° 3 ′ N , 114 ° 4 ′ W | ||
| Height : | 1048 m | ||
| Area : | 825.29 km² | ||
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Inhabitants : - Metropolitan Area : |
1,239,220 (as of 2016) 1,392,609 (as of 2016) |
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| Population density : | 1,501.6 inhabitants / km² | ||
| Time zone : | Mountain Time ( UTC − 7 ) | ||
| Postal code : | T1Y - T3R | ||
| Foundation : | 1875 | ||
| Mayor : | Naheed Nenshi | ||
| Website : | www.calgary.ca | ||
Calgary [ ˈkʰæɫ.gə.ɹi ] ( Scottish Gaelic for beach on the meadow ) is the largest city in the province of Alberta and the fourth largest in Canada with 1,239,220 inhabitants . Calgary is located in the south of the province at the confluence of the Elbow River with the Bow River . In 1988 Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Winter Olympics .
geography
Geographical location
Calgary is located in the south of Alberta on the prairie and is the largest city in this province before Edmonton , the provincial capital, which is about 300 kilometers north. This makes Calgary the largest city between Vancouver in the west on the Pacific and Toronto in the east on the Great Lakes . The Rocky Mountains extend about 80 kilometers to the west .
From the confluence of the Bow River and Elbow River , the city spreads evenly in all directions. The urban area is slightly hilly, as it is located on the eastern foothills of the Foothills, a hilly transition region to the Rocky Mountains.
The larger Bow River flows west to south through Calgary and delimits downtown at its northern end. The Elbow River crosses the city from the south to the confluence with the Bow River east of downtown at Fort Calgary .
climate
Calgary summers are warm, but winters can be very cold, so the temperature does not exceed freezing for long periods of time. This cold phase can suddenly be replaced by a warm phase with temperatures of almost 20 ° C. This is caused by the chinook , a warm, blow-dryer-like wind that blows down from the Rocky Mountains of Calgary. On the other hand, it is also possible that snowstorms will break in as early as October.
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Average monthly temperatures and rainfall for Calgary
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history
Before the first Europeans settled the area around Calgary, this area was the home of the Blackfoot . Their traces can be traced back at least 11,000 years there. The first European to reach the Bow River here was the cartographer David Thompson in 1787. The first settlers settled in the early 1860s, mostly to hunt bison. In 1875, the Royal Canadian Mounted Police established a police post , initially called Fort Brisebois . In 1876 it was renamed Fort Calgary . In 1883 the Canadian Pacific Railway reached the settlement. The settlers, who could now get here quickly by rail from the east coast, were given land and the population grew rapidly. At the same time, the cattle breeders from the southern United States were looking for new pastureland for their cattle and drove the herds further and further north into the prairie of Alberta, which at that time was not yet part of Canada. Calgary became a center for cattle breeding and cowboys . The tradition lives on today at the Calgary Stampede . The city was officially founded in 1884.
In the late 1940s, Alberta discovered huge oil reserves and Calgary went from being a livestock city to an economic metropolis. The 1973 oil crisis accelerated development so that by the 1970s 450 oil companies were headquartered in Calgary and 70 percent of the jobs in Calgary were oil dependent. The fall in the price of oil in the early 1980s plunged the city into a severe crisis from which it was only able to slowly recover at the end of the decade. The host of the Olympic Winter Games in 1988 and the broadening of the economic and cultural base contributed to the recovery . Since then, the economy, population and tourism have grown steadily.
economy
overview
Despite the diversification that has been driven since the 1980s, Calgary's economy is still heavily influenced by the gas and petroleum industries . Companies such as BP , Canadian Natural Resources , EnCana , Imperial Oil , Pembina Pipeline , Petro-Canada , Shell , Suncor Energy , Precision Drilling and TC Energy are headquartered in Calgary. Large corporations in other industries such as the Canadian Pacific Railway , Dow Chemical , NOVA Chemicals , General Dynamics Canada , Shaw Communications and WestJet Airlines also conduct their business from Calgary.
In 2007, the Calgary metropolitan area had around 703,200 jobs and an unemployment rate of 3.2 percent. The unemployment rate rose to seven percent in December 2009.
In a ranking of the most important financial centers worldwide, Calgary was ranked 38th (as of 2018).
The important CANAMEX Corridor runs through Calgary . This trade route was defined under the North American Free Trade Agreement and is used for transportation between Canada, the United States and Mexico.
Education and Research
Calgary has 223 public schools serving more than one hundred thousand school-age children through grade 12 (high school). The schools are under the supervision of the Calgary Board of Education .
The University of Calgary is the largest university in the city. The university was founded in 1966, making it one of the younger universities in Canada. In the academic year 2010 about 30,000 students were enrolled at the university. The second largest university is Mount Royal University with around 15,000 students. Smaller universities include the Southern Alberta Institute of Technology (SAIT), Bow Valley College, Alberta College of Art and Design (ACAD), Ambrose University College, St. Mary's University College, and DeVry University.
media
The Calgary Herald and the Calgary Sun are the major newspapers in Calgary. The television networks Global TV , CityTV , CTV and CBC also have their local studios in Calgary. There are also several radio stations such as Country 105 FM , X 92.9 FM , Virgin 98.5 FM and Kool 101.5 FM .
Shopping centers
Downtown Calgary offers several shopping centers and streets with restaurants of various cuisines, bars, cafes, as well as discos and clubs. One of these centers is The Core Shopping Center , which, in addition to cafés and restaurants, houses around 160 shops on four levels. Stephen Avenue and Eau Claire Market in a neighborhood just outside of downtown and bordering the Bow River are other shopping options . Calgary's largest mall, the Chinook Center , is about three miles south of downtown and has 250 shops, a movie theater, and several restaurants and cafes.
Public facilities
Security is the responsibility of the 2000 Calgary Police Service officers . They are spread across eight police stations. The officers are supported by the Canadian Federal Police and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), which have main provincial offices in the city. The Calgary Fire Department has 39 fire stations responsible for fighting fires. Alberta Health Services (AHS) Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides first aid.
Calgary has five major hospitals. The Foothills Medical Center is the largest hospital in the city. Other hospitals include the Peter Lougheed Center , Rockyview General Hospital , Alberta Children's Hospital and the South Health Campus . These five largest hospitals have more than 2,100 beds and employ more than 11,500 people. All hospitals are subordinate to the Alberta Health Services - Calgary Health Region .
Culture and sights
overview
Calgary is a modern city that is still very attached to traditional culture. There are numerous saloons, western bars and night clubs. A multitude of multicultural neighborhoods reflects the immigrant structure.
Downtown Calgary offers several cultural and architectural attractions. There are many skyscrapers in the downtown area of Calgary, where many companies in the oil and gas industry are headquartered. The hallmark of the city is the 190-meter-high Calgary Tower , a television tower with a glazed viewing platform. It houses a revolving restaurant in the tower and another in the lobby. There is also a tourist information center there. Devonian Gardens is an indoor park and is one of the world's largest parks of its kind. In the Chinatown district in the north of the city center you will find a variety of restaurants and shopping opportunities, architectural and cultural attractions. Calgary's Zoo, with 290 different species of animals, is east of downtown on an island in the Bow River. The Heritage Park depicts everyday life in western Canada from the middle of the 19th to the middle of the 20th century. In the city center is the Prince's Island Park , other parks are the Canada Olympic Park , Fort Calgary Historic Park with historical buildings and railway exhibitions. Other parks and recreational areas include Fish Creek Provincial Park in the south of the city, Nose Hill Park in the north, Bowness Park, Edworthy Park along the Bow River, and Confederation Park .
Calgary is the center of country music in Canada and is often referred to as the " Nashville of the North".
Museums, galleries and libraries
The Glenbow Museum is the largest in the city and the province with an exhibition area of 8,600 square feet and one million exhibits. Another larger museum in the city is the Telus World of Science, which features exhibits from various scientific fields. A new building for the Telus World of Science is currently being built in the east of the city center near the zoo.
Downtown, particularly along Stephen Avenue and 17th Avenue, is home to a number of art galleries. The largest among them is the Art Gallery of Calgary (AGC). Calgary is also home to the Alberta College of Art and Design .
The Calgary Public Library (CPL) is the second largest public library in Canada and the sixth largest in North America.
Festivals and events
Calgary hosts a number of annual festivals and events.
The most famous of these is the Calgary Stampede , the largest rodeo show in the world, which has been held every July since 1912 and which awards more than $ 2 million in prize money annually. It is one of the biggest festivals in Canada. In 2005, 1,242,928 visitors attended the event.
There is also the Calgary International Film Festival , the Calgary Folk Music Festival , the FunnyFest Calgary Comedy Festival , the Greek Festival , Carifest , Wordfest Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival , the Lilac Festival , GlobalFest , Calgary Fringe Festival , Summerstock , Expo Latino , Calgary Gay Pride , Calgary International Spoken Word Festival and many others.
Sports
Calgary is known as a city of winter sports. In 1988 it hosted the Winter Olympics . Every year world cup races in bobsleigh , tobogganing and speed skating take place here.
The Calgary Flames , an ice hockey team, play in the National Hockey League and won the Stanley Cup in 1989 . Their home stadium is the Scotiabank Saddledome , where the junior team from the Western Hockey League , the Calgary Hitmen , also play. Another team, the Calgary Stampeders from the Canadian Football League (CFL), play at McMahon Stadium . The Calgary Roughnecks are Calgary's lacrosse team and play in the National Lacrosse League (NLL). Another great baseball team are the Calgary Vipers , who play in the North American League (NAL).
Calgary is home to the world's largest riding stable, Spruce Meadows . Every year the best riders in the world compete there.
Hockey and American football are among the most popular recreational sports.
religion
Calgary is the seat of the Diocese of Calgary .
Contemporary themes
Due to the growth of the city, Calgary is now directly adjacent to the Sarcee- Nation Indian reservation in the southwest .
The prospering energy sector and oil sands production in northern Alberta has increased the demand for real estate in Alberta and especially in Calgary significantly. As a result, real estate prices rose immensely. In November 2006, Calgary was recognized as the most expensive city in Canada for downtown offices and the second most expensive (after Vancouver ) for residential real estate.
The cost of living and inflation are now the highest in the country. In April 2007, inflation was six percent.
crime
In March 2008 the city council approved a pilot project to provide surveillance cameras in certain areas of the city center. The project began in the spring of 2009. A total of sixteen CCTV cameras were installed in initially three areas of the city center (including Stephen Avenue).
Although the city has a relatively low crime rate compared to other North American cities, gang and drug crime has increased as the economy has grown. In 2009, an additional 62 police officers were deployed as foot patrols in the city center.
traffic
Calgary is a transportation hub for the Province of Alberta and western Canada. The Calgary International Airport is Canada's third largest airport and serves as a hub for several airlines. Calgary is connected to the road network via the Trans-Canada Highway , among other things , and in rail freight traffic mainly via the Canadian Pacific Railway .
Within the metropolitan area, the Calgary Transit urban transport company offers local public transport in the form of the light rail C-Train and bus routes.
panorama
Buildings
The first higher and more important ones were the 30 meter high Grain Exchange Building , which was completed in 1910 and the more than 50 meter high Fairmont Palliser Hotels (completed 1914).
In the city today almost 60 buildings reach a height of more than 100 meters. The tallest building of these is the Brookfield Place skyscraper, which was completed in 2017 . With a height of 247 meters, it is also the tallest of all Canadian skyscrapers outside of Toronto . The Calgary Tower reaches a height of 190.8 meters .
Personalities
Town twinning
There are city partnerships with the following cities:
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Phoenix (Arizona) ( USA ), since 1997 -
Daejeon ( South Korea ), since 1996 -
Naucalpan de Juárez ( Mexico ), since 1994 -
Daqing ( PR China ), since 1985 -
Jaipur ( India ), since 1973 -
Québec ( Canada ), since 1956
literature
- Darrel Janz: Calgary - Heart of the New West . Towery Pub, Memphis, Tennessee 2001, ISBN 1-881096-93-9 .
- Mark Kozub, Kozub, Janice: A Calgary Album: Glimpses of the Way We Were . Dundurn Press , 2001, ISBN 0-88882-224-3 (accessed April 12, 2013).
- James Martin: Calgary - The Unknown City , revised. 2nd edition, Arsenal Pulp Press , 2002, ISBN 1-55152-111-3 ( Accessed April 12, 2013).
- Jennifer McMorran, Brodeur, François: Calgary . Éditions Ulysse, 1999, ISBN 2-89464-171-0 (accessed April 12, 2013).
- Horst Vetten , photos: William Allard and Thomas Nebbias: Calgary: A city plays the Wild West. In: Geo-Magazin. Hamburg 1979.9, pp. 110-130. Informative experience report. ISSN 0342-8311
Web links
- Official website (English)
- Calgary ( English, French ) In: The Canadian Encyclopedia .
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c Census Profile, 2016 Census. Statistics Canada, November 16, 2017, accessed March 8, 2018 .
- ↑ Statistics Canada: Labor force characteristics ( Memento of the original from March 8, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Official statistics.
- ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated December 8, 2009 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ The Global Financial Centers Index 23. (No longer available online.) Archived from the original on March 27, 2018 ; accessed on July 13, 2018 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Fascination Canada - Calgary Stampede
- ↑ Besides the Global Champions Tour, most of the money in show jumping is won in "Spruce Meadows".
