Edmonton is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. It is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. Edmonton is located in Treaty 6 territory. The city anchors the northern end of what Statistics Canada defines as the "Calgary–Edmonton Corridor".
The area that later became the city of Edmonton was first inhabited by First Nations peoples, and was also a historic site for the Métis. By 1795, many trading posts had been established in the region. "Fort Edmonton", as it was known, became the main centre for trade in the area after the 1821 merger of the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company. It remained sparsely populated until the Canadian acquisition of Rupert's Land in 1870, followed eventually by the arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1891, its inauguration as a city in 1904, and its designation as the capital of the new province of Alberta in 1905. Its growth was facilitated through the absorption of five adjacent urban municipalities (Strathcona, North Edmonton, West Edmonton, Beverly and Jasper Place) in addition to a series of annexations through 1982, and the annexation of 8,260 ha (82.6 km; 31.9 sq mi) of land from Leduc County and the City of Beaumont on January 1, 2019.
