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Fort McMurray is a fast-growing cityFort McMurray is in northeastern Alberta. It is 435 kilometres (270 miles) from Edmonton.
Fort McMurray is a fast-growing community.
Athabasca Oil Sands
Fort McMurray is in the middle of the Athabasca Oil Sands. These oil sands cover a huge area. They are a mixture of bitumen, sand, water and clay.
Companies mine the sand and take out the bitumen. Then the bitumen is made into many products. For example: jet fuel, gas for cars, plastics.
Things to see and do
Plant tours
You can take a tour of an oil sands plant from May to October. Call Fort McMurray Tourism at 1-800-565-3947 (free call).
Discovery Centre
Don’t miss the Oil Sands Discovery Centre in Fort McMurray. It has many exhibits. It is open year-round.
Parks
Fort McMurray has nice parks. You can walk, hike, bike or ski on the beautiful trails.
You can learn about the history of Fort McMurray at Heritage Park. It has old buildings, a museum and large artifacts. For example: railway cars, a drilling rig and a tugboat.
Northern lights
In the winter, tourists travel to Fort McMurray to see the northern lights or aurora borealis.
2008 update
- Fort McMurray is still growing. The city’s population is about 64,400.
- Fort McMurray is part of the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo. The population of the Regional Municipality is about 79,000.
This article first appeared in the January 2003 issue of English Express.
