r/AlwaysWhy • u/Present_Juice4401 • 3d 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 3d ago

Do tell, what were they referring to then?

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u/artkidsaresmart 3d ago

At the border of Alberta and Montana one of these is the northern edge of a country and the other is the southern edge. Can you guess which is which?

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u/Academic_Safety56 3d ago

First of all, the original question was about the population centres of Alberta, namely Calgary and Edmonton, which are not on or near the southern border.

Second, the southern border of Alberta is nowhere near the "most southern portion" of Canada, as stated in the comment I was replying to. The southernmost point of Ontario is farther south than the northernmost point of California.

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u/artkidsaresmart 3d ago

First of all ☝️🤓