Banff

The Bow River in Banff National Park, southern Alberta, Canada. Famous for its trout fishing, and an important source of hydroelectric power, the Bow rises in the Canadian Rockies at the foot of Mount Gordon. It flows southeast for 587 km/365 mi, running through Calgary before its confluence with the Oldman, at which point it becomes the South Saskatchewan River.

Town and resort in southwest Alberta, Canada; population (1996 est) 6,100. It is located on the Bow River, 100 km/62 mi northwest of Calgary and 90 km/56 mi east of Vancouver, near Lake Louise. Local industries include brewing and iron founding. The town is a centre for Banff National Park (Canada's first, founded 1885) in the Rocky Mountains; area 6,641 sq km/2,565 sq mi.

Banff was named after the town of Banff in Scotland, and was originally the name of a Canadian Pacific Railroad station built nearby in 1883. The town was laid out in 1886 by George Stewart, the national park's first superintendent.

Banff National Park is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. There are natural hot springs 4 km/2.5 mi from the town, and there is a cable car to the summit of nearby Sulphur Mountain.

Banff

Town, holiday resort, and former royal burgh in Aberdeenshire unitary authority, Scotland, at the mouth of the River Deveron on the Moray Firth, 80 km/50 mi northwest of Aberdeen; population (2001) 4,000. Sea and river fishing, and a golf course, attract tourists.

The town received its first charter from Malcolm IV in 1163, and has many old buildings, including examples of 18th- and 19th-century Scottish architecture. Duff House, designed by the architect William Adam, is now the main outpost of the National Galleries of Scotland.