Canada

Coordinates: 60°N 95°W / 60°N 95°W / 60; -95

Canada (ⁱ/ˈkænədə/; French: [ka.na.da]) is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Canada's border with the United States is the world's longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the country's population of 35 million people live near the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the Atlantic coast, with the first establishment of a region called "Canada" occurring in 1537. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost territories within British North America until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly geographically comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. In 1931, Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the British parliament.

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Canadian Oil Sands

Canadian Oil Sands Limited is a Canadian company that generates income from its oil sands investment in the Syncrude Joint Venture. Syncrude operates an oil sands facility and produces crude oil through the mining of oil sands from ore deposits in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta, Canada. As of January 2, 2007, the company holds a 36.74% interest in Syncrude, which is the largest stake of any of the joint owners.

History

In 1978, Syncrude produced its first barrel of oil.

PanCanadian Petroleum (now Encana) formed Canadian Oil Sands Trust in 1995 with a 10% interest in Syncrude. The following year, Gulf Canada formed Athabasca Oil Sands Trust with an 11.74% interest in Syncrude. Canadian Oil Sands Trust and Athabasca Oil Sands Trust merged in 2001, continuing as Canadian Oil Sands Trust. Canadian Oil Sands Trust increased its interest in Syncrude to 35.5% in 2003. A further purchase of a 1.25% incremental interest brought the trust's interest in Syncrude to its current level of 36.74%. Other investors with a significant shareholding in Syncrude are Suncor Energy Inc., Imperial Oil Ltd., and two major Chinese oil outfits. The trust is reliant on Syncrude for its income, while its partners have other investments.

Fort McMurray

Fort McMurray, once named McMurray, is an urban service area in the Regional Municipality (R.M.) of Wood Buffalo in Alberta, Canada. Formerly a city, it became an urban service area when it amalgamated with Improvement District No. 143 on April 1, 1995, to create the Municipality of Wood Buffalo (renamed the R.M. of Wood Buffalo on August 14, 1996). Despite its current official designation of urban service area, many locals, politicians and the media still refer to Fort McMurray as a city. Fort McMurray was known as McMurray between 1947 and 1962.

The Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo is Canada's most affluent city, with an average household income of $191,507.

History

Before the arrival of Europeans in the late 18th Century, the Cree were the dominant First Nations people in the Fort McMurray area. The Athabasca Oil Sands were known to the locals and the surface deposits were used to waterproof their canoes. In 1778, the first European explorer, Peter Pond, came to the region in search of furs, as the European demand for this commodity at the time was strong. Pond explored the region farther south along the Athabasca River and the Clearwater River, but chose to set up a trading post much farther north by the Athabasca River near Lake Athabasca. However, his post closed in 1788 in favour of Fort Chipewyan, now the oldest continuous settlement in Alberta.

Alberta

Alberta (/ælˈbɜːrtə/) is a western province of Canada. With an estimated population of 4,196,457 as of July 1, 2015, it is Canada's fourth-most populous province and the most populous of Canada's three prairie provinces. Alberta and its neighbour Saskatchewan were districts of the Northwest Territories until they were established as provinces on September 1, 1905. The premier has been Rachel Notley since May 2015.

Alberta is bounded by the provinces of British Columbia to the west and Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Territories to the north, and the US state of Montana to the south. Alberta is one of three Canadian provinces and territories to border only a single US state and one of only two landlocked provinces. It has a predominantly Humid continental climate, but seasonal temperature average swings are smaller than to areas further east, with winters being warmed by occasional chinook winds bringing sudden warming which moderates average temperatures.

Alberta's capital Edmonton is near the geographic centre of the province and is the primary supply and service hub for Canada's crude oil, oil sands (Athabasca oil sands) and other northern resource industries.