Alternatively, the name might be Gaelic Cala ghearraidh, meaning "beach of the meadow (pasture)", or Gaelic for either "clear running water" or "bay farm". In turn, the name originates from a compound of kald and gart, similar Old Norse words, meaning "cold" and "garden", likely used when named by the Vikings who inhabited the Inner Hebrides. 2.9 1970s and 1980s: economic boom and bustĬalgary was named after Calgary on the Isle of Mull, Scotland, United Kingdom.2.2 Turmoil in 18 and "The Sandstone City".In 1988 it became the first Canadian city to host the Olympic Winter Games. In 2022 Calgary was ranked alongside Zürich as the third most livable city in the world, ranking first in Canada and in North America. In 2015 Calgary had the highest number of millionaires per capita of any major Canadian city. The Calgary Metropolitan Region is home to Canada's second-highest number of corporate head offices among the country's 800 largest corporations. Ĭalgary's economy includes activity in the energy, financial services, film and television, transportation and logistics, technology, manufacturing, aerospace, health and wellness, retail, and tourism sectors.
The city anchors the south end of the Statistics Canada-defined urban area, the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor.
As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in Canada.Ĭalgary is situated at the confluence of the Bow River and the Elbow River in the south of the province, in the transitional area between the Rocky Mountain Foothills and the Canadian Prairies, about 80 km (50 mi) east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies, roughly 299 km (186 mi) south of the provincial capital of Edmonton and approximately 240 km (150 mi) north of the Canada–United States border.
Bow River, Elbow River, Glenmore ReservoirĬalgary ( / ˈ k æ l ɡ ər i/ ( listen) KAL-gər-ee) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces.