Red Deer serves central Alberta,[10] and its key industries include health care, retail trade, construction, oil and gas, hospitality, manufacturing and education.

The area was inhabited by First Nations including the Blackfoot, Plains Cree and Stoney before the arrival of European fur traders in the late eighteenth century.

European arrivals sometimes called North American elk "red deer," after the related Eurasian species, and later named the community after the river.

Leonard Gaetz gave a half-share of 1,240 acres (5.0 km2) he had acquired to the Calgary and Edmonton Railway to develop a bridge over the river and a townsite.

Following World War I, Red Deer emerged as a small, quiet, but prosperous, prairie city.

In World War II, a large army training camp was located where Cormack Armoury, the Memorial Centre and Lindsay Thurber High School are now.

Red Deer expanded rapidly following the discovery of major oil reserves in Alberta in the late 1940s.

Red Deer became a centre for oil and gas and related industries, such as the Joffre Cogeneration Plant.

Red Deer has a humid continental climate (Köppen Dfb), with something of a semi-arid influence due to the city's location within Palliser's Triangle.

The Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League play at the Peavey Mart Centrium.

Hockey Night in Canada personality Ron MacLean calls Red Deer home.

The Queen Elizabeth II Highway links the North-South Calgary-Edmonton Corridor, including Wetaskiwin and Camrose, with Red Deer.

The David Thompson Highway links Rocky Mountain House in the West Country with Stettler in East-Central Alberta.

Red Deer Regional Airport, in Penhold, serves mostly general aviation and is expanding to encourage passenger service.

Offering a wide range of programming, including French Immersion from K-12, the district hosts international students from around the world.