"Edmonton - The City of Champions" a Edmonton Travel Page by Tolik

Edmonton, Alberta’s provincial capital, stands on the outer rim of the prairie, right at the center of the province, and set around the deep valley of the North Saskatchewan River. The city has just about everything a city needs, from theatres, museums, a symphony orchestra, a year-long round of festivals, a wonderful network of green spaces on the valley of the North Saskatchewan River to airports, and modern malls. In addition to a light rail rapid transit line, the first of its kind in North America, a citywide system of “ped-ways” offers refuge from the rigors of winter. All this stuff testifies to the prosperity of this oil town, a wealth that Edmonton handled wisely. Unfortunately, it is the most northerly of any North American city, what guarantees grim winter climates.

-Edmonton has the longest stretch of urban parkland in Canada, which is 22 times larger than New York's Central Park.
-The Great Divide Waterfall on the High Level Bridge was created to commemorate Alberta's 75th anniversary. This man-made waterfall is 7.3 meters (24 feet) higher than Niagara Falls.
-There are over 70 golf courses in Metro Edmonton including Victoria Golf Course, the oldest Municipal Golf Course in Canada (1907).
-The marigold flower, selected as an official city symbol in 1964, represents sunny Alberta and Edmonton's role in the Klondike Gold Rush. Like the marigold, which has many varieties, Edmonton's population is made up of more than 50 ethnic groups.
-Visitors are assured of plenty of sun and beautiful blue Alberta skies during their visit, regardless of the season. The city averages 12.32 hours daily of sunshine, more than any other major Canadian city. At the height of summer, there are up to 17 hours of sunlight each day.

Alberta is the richest of three Prairie Provinces (the list includes also Saskatchewan and Manitoba). “Prairie” comes from the French word meaning “meadow”.