Gleichen is a
hamlet
''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...
in southeast
Alberta
Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest T ...
, Canada within
Wheatland County. It is located adjacent to the
Siksika Nation
The Siksika Nation ( bla, Siksiká) is a First Nation in southern Alberta, Canada. The name ''Siksiká'' comes from the Blackfoot words ''sik'' (black) and ''iká'' (foot), with a connector ''s'' between the two words. The plural form of ''Sik ...
at the intersection of
Highway 1
The following highways are numbered 1.
For roads numbered A1, see list of A1 roads.
For roads numbered B1, see list of B1 roads.
For roads numbered M1, see List of M1 roads.
For roads numbered N1, see list of N1 roads.
For roads numbered S ...
and
Highway 547, approximately southeast of
Strathmore. It has an elevation of .
History
It was named after
Lord Edward Gleichen in 1884. Gleichen was originally incorporated as a
village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred ...
on January 24, 1899 and then incorporated as a
town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an o ...
on May 6, 1910. After nearly 100 years as a municipality however, Gleichen dissolved to hamlet status under the jurisdiction of Wheatland County on March 31, 1998.
During the formation of the province, Gleichen was large enough to have its own seat in the
Legislative Assembly of Alberta
The Legislative Assembly of Alberta is the deliberative assembly of the province of Alberta, Canada. It sits in the Alberta Legislature Building in Edmonton. The Legislative Assembly currently has 87 members, elected first past the post from si ...
(see
Gleichen provincial electoral district). Its population peaked at 668 according to the Canada 1921 Census.
Due to its proximity to the railroad, Gleichen was readily accessible to farmers and ranchers living in the area. Its mostly wooden structures however posed an increased risk of widespread fires. After the community burned a second time in 1912, many of its residents moved elsewhere, mostly to
Calgary
Calgary ( ) is the largest city in the western Canadian province of Alberta and the largest metro area of the three Prairie Provinces. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806, maki ...
.
Climate
Gleichen experiences a
semi-arid climate
A semi-arid climate, semi-desert climate, or steppe climate is a dry climate sub-type. It is located on regions that receive precipitation below potential evapotranspiration, but not as low as a desert climate. There are different kinds of semi ...
(
Köppen ''BSk'').
Köppen climate classification map of North America (University of Melbourne)
/ref> Winters are long, dry and cold, while summers are short and warm. Precipitation is usually scant, with an annual mean of .
Demographics
In the 2021 Census of Population
The 2021 Canadian census was a detailed enumeration of the Canadian population with a reference date of May 11, 2021. It follows the 2016 Canadian census, which recorded a population of 35,151,728. The overall response rate was 98%, which is sli ...
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 cultu ...
, Gleichen had a population of 314 living in 139 of its 168 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2016 population of 324. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2021.
See also
*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 districts ...
*List of designated places in Alberta
A designated place is a type of geographic unit used by Statistics Canada to disseminate census data. It is usually "a small community that does not meet the criteria used to define incorporated municipalities or Statistics Canada population ce ...
*List of former urban municipalities in Alberta
The Province of Alberta currently has 256 urban municipalities including 19 cities, 106 towns, 80 villages and 51 summer villages. In addition, there are 100 communities that previously held some form of urban municipality status. These include ...
*List of hamlets in Alberta
Hamlets in the province of Alberta, Canada, are unincorporated communities administered by, and within the boundaries of, specialized municipalities or rural municipalities ( municipal districts, improvement districts and special areas). The ...
References
External links
Hamlet of Gleichen
Hamlets in Alberta
Former towns in Alberta
Designated places in Alberta
Wheatland County, Alberta
Populated places disestablished in 1998
{{SouthernAlberta-geo-stub