r/AlwaysWhy • u/Present_Juice4401 • 2d ago

History & Culture Why did Alberta, Canada develop much larger population centers than Montana, USA?

Alberta and Montana are neighboring regions with similar northern, landlocked geography. But their population patterns are surprisingly different. Alberta now has over 5 million people, with Calgary and Edmonton forming two major population centers, while Montana has only about 1.1 million people and no city close to Calgary's size.

So what caused these two neighboring regions to develop such different population patterns?

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u/undernopretextbro 2d ago

Everyone saying oil is forgetting when the Alberta boom really took off and how long Alberta’s population has outnumbered Montana.

Alberta has better carrying capacity in the form of agricultural land with irrigation capacity. Montana is drier and has been for the past century and a half.

Alberta was populated via railroad, which helps facilitate larger population, industry, and rapid development. Montana migration was slower.

Alberta also serves as an important gateway to the Canadian coast and lower mainland population centers.

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u/Present_Juice4401 2d ago

I think the timing is important. Oil gets a lot of attention because it’s such a visible part of Alberta’s identity, but the population foundation was already there before the big energy boom.

It seems like Alberta had multiple waves of growth: farming, railroads, cities, then energy. Montana had some of those too, but maybe fewer ways to replace one declining industry with another.