Viking () is a town in

central Alberta Central Alberta is a region located in the Canadian province of Alberta. Central Alberta is the most densely populated rural area in the province. Agriculture and energy are important to the area's economy. Geography Central Alberta is bordere ...

, Canada. It is at the intersection of Highway 14 (Poundmaker Trail) and Highway 36 (Veterans Memorial Highway), approximately east of

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. The town also lends its name to the

Viking Formation The Viking Formation is a stratigraphical unit of Cretaceous age in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin. It takes the name from the town of Viking, Alberta, and was first described in the Viking- Kinsella oil field by Dowling in 1919. Litho ...

, an oil bearing stratigraphical unit.

History

Viking was settled in 1909 by

Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n settlers Sivert Hafso and Ole Sorenson, from Norway. On 7 July 2005, the community ice arena was severely damaged by

fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

. Construction began on a new arena, called the "Viking Carena Complex" and was completed on 17 August 2007. Viking celebrated its centennial in 2009.

Geography

Climate

Viking experiences a

humid continental climate A humid continental climate is a climatic region defined by Russo-German climatologist Wladimir Köppen in 1900, typified by four distinct seasons and large seasonal temperature differences, with warm to hot (and often humid) summers and freezing ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...

''Dfb''). Summers are warm with moderate rainfall while winters are long and bitterly cold.

Demographics

In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by

Statistics Canada Statistics Canada (StatCan; french: Statistique Canada), formed in 1971, is the agency of the Government of Canada commissioned with producing statistics to help better understand Canada, its population, resources, economy, society, and cultur ...

, the Town of Viking had a population of 986 living in 432 of its 490 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 1,083. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021. In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the Town of Viking recorded a population of 1,083 living in 460 of its 505 total private dwellings, a change from its 2011 population of 1,041. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

Economy

The majority of economic activity is in the

agriculture Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created food surpluses that enabled people to ...

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the remains of dead plants and animals that is extracted and burned as a fuel. The main fossil fuels are coal, oil, and natural gas. Fossil fuels ...

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

, and

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a r ...

industries. Alberta Farmers Cooperative Elevator company elevator, Viking, Alberta 1913

Arts and culture

Viking won the national Communities in Bloom contest in 2000.

Attractions

Many parks and flower gardens are maintained throughout the town. One of the most notable parks is Troll Park, which celebrates Vikings's rich Scandinavian history with native plants, trolls hidden throughout the park, and a giant troll mountain.

Infrastructure

The Viking Airport is a small airport owned by the Town of Viking west of the townsite, with the

Transport Canada Transport Canada (french: Transports Canada) is the department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, policies and services of road, rail, marine and air transportation in Canada. It is part of the Transportati ...

airport identifier of CEE8.Canadian Owners and Pilots Association ''Places to Fly''
Viking Airport
As a flag stop,

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

'' calls at the

Viking railway station Viking station is on the Canadian National Railway (CN) mainline in Viking, Alberta. The railway station, station is served by Via Rail's ''The Canadian'' as a flag stop (48 hours advance notice required). The old CN station building has been re ...

Notable people

Cory Clouston Cory Clouston (; born September 19, 1969) is an ice hockey coach, who most recently served as head coach of the Kölner Haie of the DEL. He has previously served as head coach of the Ottawa Senators of the National Hockey League (NHL), the Bingham ...

, former hockey coach *

Murray Dorin Murray William Dorin (May 21, 1954 – April 11, 2020) was a Canadian politician and businessman, who served as a Progressive Conservative party member of the House of Commons of Canada from 1984 to 1993. He was a chartered accountant and con ...

, Canadian politician, Progressive Conservative MP (1984 - 1993) *

Don Mazankowski Donald Frank Mazankowski (July 27, 1935 – October 27, 2020) was a Canadian politician who served as a cabinet minister under prime ministers Joe Clark and Brian Mulroney, including as deputy prime minister under Mulroney. After retiring fro ...

, former politician * Donald Sanderlin, Olympian *

Glen Sather Glen Cameron “Slats” Sather (born September 2, 1943) is a Canadian ice hockey player, coach and executive. He is the current senior advisor and alternate governor of the New York Rangers of the National Hockey League (NHL). He was the Rangers ...

, president of the

New York Rangers The New York Rangers are a professional ice hockey team based in the New York City borough of Manhattan. They compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Metropolitan Division in the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home ...

, former coach and general manager of the

Edmonton Oilers The Edmonton Oilers are a professional ice hockey team based in Edmonton. The Oilers compete in the National Hockey League (NHL) as a member of the Pacific Division of the Western Conference. They play their home games at Rogers Place, which ...

, and former professional hockey player *

Sutter family The Sutter family, originally from Viking, Alberta, Canada, are one of the most famous families in the National Hockey League (NHL). Six brothers: Brent, Brian, Darryl, Duane, Rich and Ron, reached the NHL in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Fou ...

, a

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

family that includes Brent,

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

, Duane,

Rich Rich may refer to: Common uses * Rich, an entity possessing wealth * Rich, an intense flavor, color, sound, texture, or feeling ** Rich (wine), a descriptor in wine tasting Places United States * Rich, Mississippi, an unincorporated commun ...

Ron Ron is a shortening of the name Ronald. Ron or RON may also refer to: Arts and media * Big Ron (''EastEnders''), a TV character * Ron (''King of Fighters''), a video game character *Ron Douglas, the protagonist in ''Lucky Stiff'' played by Joe ...

, and

Darryl Darryl is an English name, a variant spelling of Darell. Male variations of this name include: Darlin, Daryl, Darrell, Darryl, Daryll, Darryll, Darrell, Darrel. Female and unisex variations of this name include: Daryl, Darian, Dareen, Darell ...

, all of whom formerly played professional hockey in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; french: Ligue nationale de hockey—LNH, ) is a professional ice hockey league in North America comprising 32 teams—25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. It is considered to be the top ranked professional ...

List of communities in Alberta The province of Alberta, Canada, is divided into ten types of local governments – urban municipalities (including cities, towns, villages and summer villages), specialized municipalities, rural municipalities (including municipal district ...

List of towns in Alberta A town is an urban municipality status type used in the Canadian province of Alberta. Alberta towns are created when communities with populations of at least 1,000 people, where a majority of their buildings are on parcels of land smaller than ...

References

External links

* {{Subdivisions of Alberta, towns=yes 1909 establishments in Alberta Beaver County, Alberta Towns in Alberta