Gleichen is a

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

in southeast

Alberta Alberta is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Canada. It is a part of Western Canada and is one of the three Canadian Prairies, prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to its west, Saskatchewan to its east, t ...

, Canada within Wheatland County. It is located adjacent to the Siksika Nation at the intersection of Highway 1 and Highway 547, approximately southeast of Strathmore. It has an elevation of .

History

It was named after

Lord Edward Gleichen Major-general (United Kingdom), Major-General Lord Albert Edward Wilfred Gleichen (15 January 1863 – 14 December 1937) was a British courtier and soldier. Early life and family history Born as Count Albert Edward Wilfred von Gleichen, he w ...

in 1884. Gleichen was originally incorporated as a

village A village is a human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to a few thousand. Although villages are often located in rural areas, the term urban v ...

on January 24, 1899 and then incorporated as a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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. Since 2012 the Legislative Assembly has had 87 members, elected first past the post f ...

(see

Gleichen Gleichen () is the name of two groups of castles in Germany, thus named from their resemblance to each other (). Castles in Thuringia between Gotha and Erfurt The first is a group of three (hence called "die drei hreeGleichen"), each situated o ...

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 a major city in the Canadian province of Alberta. As of 2021, the city proper had a population of 1,306,784 and a metropolitan population of 1,481,806 making it the third-largest city and fifth-largest metropolitan area in C ...

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 se ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''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 . A temperature of 46.1 °C (115 °F) was once said to have occurred in Gleichen on July 28, 1903. However, according to official meteorological records, the temperature that day had only reached 21.3 °C (70.3 °F). Gleichen has never officially recorded a temperature higher than 37.8 °C (100 °F). Otherwise, Gleichen would have held the record for the highest temperature in Canada until

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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; ), 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 culture. It is headquartered in ...

, 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. As a designated place in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Gleichen had a population of 324 living in 137 of its 172 total private dwellings, a change of from its 2011 population of 336. With a land area of , it had a population density of in 2016.

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

History

Climate

Demographics

See also

References

External links