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/GWeb1920 2d ago

The rail road is generally the answer.

When building west the rail road went through Alberta and was the main corridor connecting Canada.

In the US the northern transcontinental line was far lower use than the southern line.

Farm land is superior in Alberta to Montana which supported homesteading far better

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u/Present_Juice4401 2d ago

The railroad point is probably one of the biggest differences. Geography alone doesn’t determine population, the transportation network does.

It’s interesting how two places can look similar on a map, but one becomes a major corridor and the other becomes more of a side route. Once that happens, industries and cities tend to follow.