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 bordered ...

, 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 Provinces and territories of Canada, 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 Central Alberta ...

. The town also lends its name to the

Viking Formation The Viking Formation is a stratigraphic 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. Lithology ...

, an oil bearing stratigraphical unit.

History

Viking was settled in 1909 by

Scandinavia Scandinavia is a subregion#Europe, subregion of northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, Norway, and Sweden. It can sometimes also ...

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 fuel in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. Flames, the most visible portion of the fire, are produced in the combustion re ...

. 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 cold ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

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

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 ...

, 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 encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created ...

oil and gas A fossil fuel is a flammable carbon compound- or hydrocarbon-containing material formed naturally in the Earth's crust from the buried remains of prehistoric organisms (animals, plants or microplanktons), a process that occurs within geologi ...

textile Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...

, 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 the secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer ...

industries.

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 () is the Ministry (government department), department within the Government of Canada responsible for developing regulations, Policy, policies and Public services, services of road, rail, marine and air Transport in Canada, tra ...

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 (stylized as VIA Rail), is a Canadian Crown corporation that operates intercity passenger rail service in Canada. As of December 2023, Via Rail operates 406 trains per week across eight ...

's ''

The Canadian ''The Canadian'' () is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Pacific introduced this serv ...

'' calls at the Viking railway station.

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 Bingha ...

, former hockey coach * Murray Dorin, 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 fr ...

, former politician * Donald Sanderlin, Olympian *

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 Sutter, Brent, Brian Sutter, Brian, Darryl Sutter, Darryl, Duane Sutter, Duane, Rich Sutter, ...

, a

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

family that includes Brent,

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan (given name), Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish language, Irish and Breton language, Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan language, Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. ...

, Duane,

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

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 a given name, a variant spelling of Darell. Variations of this name include: Daryl, Daryll, Darryll, and Darrel. People Darryl * Darryl Brown (West Indian cricketer) (born 1973) * Darryl Brown (South African cricketer) (born 1983) ...

, all of whom formerly played professional hockey in the

NHL The National Hockey League (NHL; , ''LNH'') is a professional ice hockey league in North America composed of 32 teams25 in the United States and 7 in Canada. The NHL is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United States and Cana ...

* Carson Soucy, professional NHL ice hockey player

References

External links

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