Wheat and cattle are the traditional mainstays of this prairie province. Farmers and ranchers were joined by petroleum geologists and roughnecks during the mid-20th century, when Alberta was found to hold the bulk of Canada's energy resources. The province is the world's second-largest natural gas exporter. And Alberta has the largest oil sands resources in the world, with more than 300 billion barrels to be recovered.

Tax incentives stimulate manufacturing and service industries. Personal income tax is the lowest in Canada and Albertans pay no retail sales tax.

At more than three million people, Alberta's population derives from British, German, Ukrainian, Chinese, and Dutch stock. More than half of the people live in Edmonton, seat of the provincial government, and in Calgary, Alberta's commercial capital. For sheer wildness little can surpass backcountry adventures in Banff, Jasper, and Waterton Lakes National Parks in the Rocky Mountains.