Edmonton is the capital of the province of Alberta, making it the seat of the provincial Crown. It is on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farmland on the prairies. It is the second largest city in Alberta after Calgary, with a population of 836,372 (2006, and is the hub of Canada's sixth largest census metropolitan area, with a metropolitan population of 1,034,945 (2006), making it the northernmost North American city with a metropolitan population over one million.