Southern Alberta is in the northern Great Plains region, lined to the east from the Canadian Rocky Mountains and their foothills.
The rest of the region is dominated by the semi-arid prairies of the Palliser's Triangle, where farms and ranches have been built, often with the help of irrigation.
Cypress Hills, located in the east, at the border with Saskatchewan, are the highest point between the Rocky Mountains and Labrador.
[3] In 2007, Alberta Human Resources and Employment reported the fields of finance, insurance, real estate, professions, technicians and senior managers will lead the Lethbridge–Medicine Hat region's growth with an average 2.8% real GDP growth each year until 2011.
[4] On a provincial level, southern Alberta is represented in the Legislative Assembly of Alberta by MLAs elected in the ridings of Airdrie-Cochrane, Airdrie-East, Banff-Kananaskis, Brooks-Medicine Hat, Cardston-Siksika, Chestermere-Strathmore, Cypress-Medicine Hat, Highwood, Lethbridge East, Lethbridge West, Livingstone-Macleod, and Taber-Warner.