283km (175 miles) N of Calgary, 361km (224 miles) E of Jasper
Edmonton, Alberta's capital, is located on the banks of the North Saskatchewan River. It's a sophisticated city of around 1 million citizens that's noted for its summer festivals and easygoing friendliness.
Edmonton grew in spurts, following a boom-and-bust pattern as exciting as it was unreliable. During World War II, the boom came in the form of the Alaska Highway, with Edmonton as the material base and temporary home of 50,000 American troops and construction workers. The ultimate boom, however, gushed from the ground in 1947, when a drill at Leduc, 40km (25 miles) southwest of the city, sent a fountain of crude oil soaring skyward. Some 10,000 other wells followed, and in their wake came the petrochemical industry and the refining and supply conglomerates. In 20 years, the population quadrupled, the skyline mushroomed with glass-and-concrete office towers, a rapid-transit system was created, and a C$150-million (US$120-million) civic center rose. Edmonton had become what it is today -- the oil capital of Canada.
