Calgary (pronounced /ˈkælɡri, ˈkælɡəri/) is the largest city in the province of Alberta, Canada. Calgary CMA is the third most diverse in Canada in terms of visible minorities after Toronto and Vancouver when considering only CMAs with population greater than 200,000. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and high plains, approximately 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies.
The city is located in the Parkland region of Alberta. Calgary is the third largest civic municipality, by population, in Canada. As of the 2008 civic census, Calgary's population was 1,042,892.
The metropolitan population (CMA) was 1,169,492 in 2008, making Greater Calgary the fifth largest census metropolitan area in the country after Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, and Ottawa. Because it is located 298 km (185 mi) due south of Edmonton, statisticians define the narrow populated area between these cities as the "Calgary-Edmonton Corridor." Calgary is the largest Canadian metropolitan area between Toronto and Vancouver. Calgary is well-known as a destination for winter sports and ecotourism with a number of major mountain resorts near the city and metropolitan area.
Economic activity in Calgary is mostly centred on the petroleum industry; however, agriculture, tourism, and high-tech industries also contribute to the city's economic growth. Calgary holds many major annual festivals which include the Calgary Stampede, the Folk Music Festival, the Lilac Festival, One Yellow Rabbit High Performance Rodeo — Calgary's International Festival of the Arts, Wordfest: Banff-Calgary International Writers Festival, Calgary International Spoken Word Festival, One World Festival (GlobalFest), and the fourth largest Caribbean festival in the country (Carifest). In 1988, Calgary became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Winter Games, and one of the fastest long track speed skating ice rinks in the world was built at the University of Calgary to accommodate these Games.
Before the Calgary area was settled by Europeans, it was inhabited by Pre-Clovis people whose presence has been traced back at least 11,000 years. In 1787, cartographer David Thompson spent the winter with a band of Peigan encamped along the Bow River. He was the first recorded European to visit the area, and John Glenn was the first documented European settler in the Calgary area, in 1873.