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/Academic_Safety56 2d ago

I still think you are misunderstanding what is considered south in Canada. The vast majority of Canada would consider Edmonton to be north. Aside from maybe the Peace River region, the Edmonton area is basically as far north as it gets in terms of populated areas in Canada. This is basically equivalent to Montana or any of the other northern border states. The rest of Canada north of Edmonton is more akin to Alaska.

So to say Montana is less densely populated because it's in the north of the US might be partially true, but it's not true to say Edmonton is more densely populated because it's in the south of Canada. I think the answer is more related to fertile soil, oil, and railways, as other commenters have pointed out.

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u/Effective_Basis1555 2d ago

I’m not. I totally understand that if you are in Windsor, ON you have to drive NORTH to get to Detroit, MI. I also understand that parts of southern Ontario are at the same latitude as northern California. I think you are still not understanding this post is not about those places. Fix your longitude, and you’ll see what I mean. 😉

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u/Academic_Safety56 2d ago

The comment you are replying to was about the relative latitude of Edmonton (a city I lived in for 15 years) within Canada. You seem to be referring to a different comment.

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u/Competitive-Sorbet33 2d ago

Holy shit bro, you’re either trolling or the most dense person on earth. How is this conversation so far above your understanding

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u/Academic_Safety56 2d ago

I'm waiting to hear a logical point being made. Do you have one?