About Southern Region

The Southern Region covers approximately 114,735 km2 (44,296 square miles) of land, an area slightly larger than the province of Nova Scotia. With about 50 per cent of Alberta's population in this region, the majority of the residents reside in the big urban centres of Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat. Numerous towns and villages are spread throughout the region, often clustered in areas where agricultural activities are most intense. Alberta Environment has offices in Calgary, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Hanna.

The geography of the Southern Region is among the most dramatic in the province, extending from the rolling plains and coulees in the east to stunning mountain peaks in the west. The region also includes a number of parks and protected areas including Bow Valley Wildland Park, Dinosaur Provincial Park (World Heritage Site), Cypress Hills Inter-Provincial Park, and Writing-On-Stone Provincial Park.

The Southern Region includes most of the South Saskatchewan River Basin and all of the Milk River Basin. Southern Alberta's meandering rivers, flanked by riparian gallery cottonwood forests and enclosed by steeply incised river bluffs and coulee draws are one of the aesthetic highlights of the region.

An elaborate irrigation infrastructure and the presence of considerable sunshine, has promoted agriculture to be a dominant force in the regional economy. Agricultural production is diverse, including market gardens, greenhouses, livestock operations (dairy, cattle, swine, poultry, exotics), dry land and irrigated farmland (on which a wide variety of cultivated crops are grown), and ranching.

Other industries in the Southern Region include oil and gas development, agricultural processing, timber harvesting, hydroelectricity, mining, service industry, recreation and tourism.

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