Northern Alberta

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.{{cite web|title=UofA Northern Research Awards|website=UAlberta North|url=https://www.ualberta.ca/north/funding-awards/scholarships-and-awards/uanra|access-date=October 18, 2019}}

The region consists of aspen parkland in the south, grading to boreal forest and muskeg in the north.

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.

Northern Alberta is crossed by the Peace River and the Athabasca River, both of which eventually convene to form the Slave River that ultimately drains into the Arctic Ocean via Great Slave Lake and the Mackenzie River within the Northwest Territories. Other major rivers are Wapiti, Smoky, Hay, Chinchaga, Petitot Rivers in the west, Wabasca River in the centre and Firebag, Beaver and Clearwater River in the east. Alberta's two largest waterbodies, Lake Athabasca and Lake Claire are located in the wetlands of northeastern Alberta, forming the Peace-Athabasca Delta, that drains through the Slave River towards the Arctic Ocean.

The Caribou Mountains are an elevated plateau in the relatively flat Albertan north which provide core habitat for an endangered woodland caribou herd. This area is conserved by the Caribou Mountains Wildland Park. The adjacent Wood Buffalo National Park is Canada's largest protected area.

Other tourist attractions in Northern Alberta include the Fort McMurray Historical Society-Heritage Park, Historic Dunvegan, Kimiwan Birdwalk and Interpretive Centre, Lesser Slave Lake Bird Observatory in the Lesser Slave Lake Provincial Park, Muskoseepi Park, Kakwa Wildland Provincial Park, Willmore Wilderness Park and the Oil Sands Discovery Centre.{{cite web| url = http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=422| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090303181254/http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=422| archive-date = 2009-03-03| title = Attractions in Alberta| author = Travel Alberta| access-date=2007-01-06}}

Northern Alberta contains several diamond bearing diatremes associated with kimberlite fields, including the Buffalo Head Hills and Birch Mountains kimberlite fields which in turn form the Northern Alberta kimberlite province.

Animals of Northern Alberta include the Mackenzie Valley gray wolf (Canis lupus occidentalis), British Columbian red fox (Vulpes vulpes abietorum), fishers (Pekania pennanti), American black bear (Ursus americanus), northwestern moose (Alces alces andersoni), white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), wood bison (Bison bison athabascae), groundhogs (Marmota monax canadensis), northern coyotes (Canis latrans incolatus), wolverines (Gulo gulo), and mountain lions (Puma concolor). Multiple elusive and out-of-range animals have been reported in this region, including a singular gray fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) was recorded close to Lake Athabasca,{{Cite web |title=Recovery Strategy for the Grey Fox (Urocyon cinereoargenteus) in Canada |url=https://www.registrelep-sararegistry.gc.ca/virtual_sara/files/plans/rs_grey_fox_e_proposed.pdf | publisher=Government of Canada | year=2017}} and multiple vagrant birds including northern cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), wandering tattlers (Tringa incana),{{Cite web |date= |editor-last=Scott |editor-first=David |title=Alberta Rare Bird Reports |url=https://library.ulethbridge.ca/c.php?g=726574&p=5208159 |access-date=2023-02-22 |website=University of Lethbridge Library}} and northern wheatears (Oenanthe oenanthe). Alberta also has reports of wild boars (Sus scrofa) coming into the province.

Highway 43 and Highway 2 pass through the southwest of the region, this being the end of the CANAMEX corridor. Other important routes are the Mackenzie Highway and Bicentennial Highway in the northwest, the Northern Woods and Water Route in the southeast and Highway 63 in the east.{{cite web| url = https://www.amaroadreports.ca/ | title = Northern Alberta - Road report | author= Alberta Motor Association |author-link= Alberta Motor Association| access-date = 2007-01-11}}

Grande Prairie Airport, Peace River Airport, Fort Vermilion (Wop May Memorial) International Airport and Fort McMurray Airport are regional air transportation hubs.

Northern Alberta's health region is controlled by Alberta Health Services.

On a provincial level, Northern Alberta is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by Members of the Legislative Assembly elected in the ridings of Athabasca-Redwater, Barrhead-Morinville-Westlock, Bonnyville-Cold Lake, Dunvegan-Central Peace, Fort McMurray-Conklin, Fort McMurray-Wood Buffalo, Grande Prairie Smoky, Grande Prairie Wapiti, Lac La Biche-St. Paul, Lesser Slave Lake, and Peace River.

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;Cities

• Grande Prairie
• Cold Lake
• Fort McMurray

;Towns

• Athabasca
• Beaverlodge
• Bonnyville
• Elk Point
• Fairview
• Falher
• Fox Creek
• Grande Cache
• Grimshaw
• High Level
• High Prairie
• Lac La Biche
• Manning
• McLennan
• Peace River
• Rainbow Lake
• Sexsmith
• Slave Lake
• Spirit River
• St. Paul
• Swan Hills
• Valleyview
• Wembley
• Whitecourt

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;Villages

• Berwyn
• Boyle
• Donnelly
• Girouxville
• Hines Creek
• Hythe
• Nampa
• Rycroft

;Summer villages

• Bondiss
• Bonnyville Beach
• Island Lake
• Island Lake South
• Mewatha Beach
• South Baptiste
• Sunset Beach
• West Baptiste
• Whispering Hills

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;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

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;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

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{{Portal|Canada}}

• List of regions of Canada

{{Reflist}}

• [http://www.nadc.gov.ab.ca/ NADC] - Northern Alberta Development Council
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20090303181254/http://www1.travelalberta.com/en-north/index.cfm?pageid=422 Travel Alberta] - Alberta North
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120206034532/http://www.albertaheritage.net/places/alberta_map.html Alberta Regions] - Alberta Heritage
• [http://www.discoverthepeacecountry.com/ DiscoverThePeaceCountry.com featuring Villages, Towns, Cities, Parks and Lakes of Northern Alberta]

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{{Subdivisions of Alberta|regions=yes}}

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Category:Geographic regions of Alberta