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Alberta is one of Canada's provinces. It celebrated 100 years as a province on September 1, 2005. Alberta is located in western Canada. It is bounded on the west by the province of British Columbia, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by the province of Saskatchewan, and on the south by the U.S. State of Montana. Alberta is one of two provinces (the other being New Brunswick) to border a single U.S. state. Alberta's capital is the city of Edmonton, located just south of the centre of the province. The most populous city and metropolitan area is Calgary. Calgary is also the province's busiest transportation hub (for road, air, and rail) and is one of Canada's major commerce centres. Other major municipalities include Red Deer, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Fort McMurray, Grande Prairie, Camrose, Lloydminster, Wetaskiwin, Banff, and Jasper. See also: List of communities in Alberta. The Premier of the province is Hon. Ralph Klein, Progressive Conservative. See also List of Alberta Premiers. Alberta is named after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta (1848-1939), the fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Princess Louise was also the wife of Sir John Campbell, who was the Governor General of Canada from 1878-1883. Lake Louise was also named in honour of Princess Louise. Alberta is in western Canada, and covers an area of 661,190 km² (255,287 mi²). To the south, it borders the US state of Montana at a latitude of 49°N, or the 49th Parallel. To the east at a longitude of 110°W, it borders the province of Saskatchewan. At 60°N, it is bordered by the Northwest Territories. To the west, its border with British Columbia follows the line of peaks of the Rocky Mountains range along the Continental Divide, which runs northwesterly until it reaches 120° W, at which point the border follows this meridian to 60°N. With the exception of the southeastern section, the province is well watered. Alberta contains dozens of rivers and lakes ideal for swimming, water skiing, fishing and a full range of other water sports. There are a multitude of fresh-water lakes, each less than 260 km² situated in Alberta, and three of more considerable size. These three larger lakes are Lake Athabasca (7898 km²), part of which lies in the province of Saskatchewan, Lake Claire (1436 km²), which lies just west of Lake Athabasca in Wood Buffalo National Park, and Lesser Slave Lake (1168 km²), which is well northwest of Edmonton. As Alberta extends for 1200 km from north to south, and about 600 km wide at its greatest east-west extent, it is natural that the climate should vary considerably between the 49th and 60th parallels. It is also further influenced by altitude, especially in the southwestern part of the province within the Canadian Rockies and adjacent areas directly to the east.
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