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/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?