Wood Buffalo, Alberta

Wood Buffalo
Location of Wood Buffalo in Alberta
Coordinates: 56°43′36″N 111°22′47″W / 56.72667°N 111.37972°W / 56.72667; -111.37972
Country	Canada
Province	Alberta
Region	Northern Alberta
Census division	No. 16
Established	1995
Incorporated	1996
Municipal Seat	Fort McMurray
Government [1]
- Governing body	Wood Buffalo Council
- Mayor	Melissa Blake
Area
- Total	63,343 km2 (24,456.9 sq mi)
Population (2006)[2]
- Total	51,496
- Density	0.8/km2 (2.1/sq mi)
- Dwellings	20,505
Time zone	MST (UTC-7)
Website	Wood Buffalo

The regional municipality of Wood Buffalo is located in northeastern Alberta. Created in 1995 as an amalgamation of the community of Fort McMurray and Improvement District 143^[3], it now ranks the largest in Canada by area. Underlying its 68,454 km² (26,430 sq mi) of wilderness lie vast oil sand deposits, also known as the Athabasca Oil Sands, helping to make the region one of the fastest growing industrial areas in Canada.

Until the Alberta electoral boundary re-distribution of 2004, the municipality was divided between the provincial electoral districts of Fort McMurray (the community itself) and Athabasca-Wabasca (the surrounding area). The re-distribution amalgamated the municipality into a single electoral district covering the entire municipality. As a result, the new Wood Buffalo electoral district became the most populous such district in Alberta.^{[citation needed]}

List of communities in the Municipality of Wood Buffalo

Main District

• Fort McMurray

Hamlets

• Anzac
• Conklin
• Fort Chipewyan
• Fort Mackay
• Gregoire Lake Estates
• Janvier South
• Saprae Creek

Other communities

• Draper
• Fort Fitzgerald
• Mariana Lakes

Demographics

In 2001, the municipal district had a population of 41,466 in 14,793 dwellings, a 17.8% increase from 1996. On a surface area of 63,400.51 km² it had a density of 0.7 inhabitants/km². ^[4]

In 2006, Wood Buffalo had a population of 51,496 living in 20,505 dwellings, a 24.3% increase from 2001. The regional municipality has a land area of 63,342.89 km² (24,456.8 sq mi) and a population density of 0.8/km² (2.1/sq mi).^[2]

More than 12% of residents identified as aboriginal at the time of the 2006 census.^[5]

Nearly 85% of residents identified English, and 3% identified French, as their first language. The next most common languages are Cree, Spanish and Arabic at 1.2% each; Tagalog and Chinese at 0.8% each; Dene/Chipewyan and Urdu at 0.6% each, and German at 0.5%. ^[6]

Wood Buffalo is home to almost 2,000 recent immigrants (arriving between 2001 and 2006) who now make up more than 3% of the population. About 21% of these immigrants came from India, while about 10% came from each of Pakistan and the Philippines, and about 9% came from Venezuela, and about 8% from South Africa, about 6% from China, and about 3% came from Colombia.^[7]

More than 80% of residents identified as Christian at the time of the 2001 census while almost 17% indicated they had no religious affiliation. For specific denominations Statistics Canada counted 15,880 Roman Catholics (37.4%), 4,985 Anglicans (11.7%), 4,225 for the United Church of Canada (9.9%), 1,730 Pentecostals (4.1%), 1,195 Baptists (2.8%), 965 for the Salvation Army (2.3%), 900 Lutherans (2.1%), 690 Muslims (1.6%), 350 Mormons (0.8%), and 320 Presbyterians (0.8%). ^[8]

References

External links

• Wood Buffalo - official website
• Wood Buffalo colleges - Keyano College

	Wood Buffalo National Park	Northwest Territories		v • d • e
	Mackenzie Municipal District		Saskatchewan
		Wood Buffalo Regional Municipality
	Municipal District of Opportunity	Lac La Biche County

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