Prince Albert

City in Saskatchewan, Canada, on the North Saskatchewan River and the Canadian Pacific Railway, 160 km/100 mi north of Saskatoon; population (2006) 34,500. The self-proclaimed ‘Gateway to the North’, it is the administrative centre of the provincial government for the northern areas, a terminus for transport and communication into the forest, lake, and mining region of the north, and a trading centre. It is 65 km/40 mi from the Prince Albert national park (area 3,875 sq km/1,496 sq mi). The site of earlier fur-trading posts, the city was founded as a Presbyterian mission by James Nisbet in 1866.