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Rcky Muntains!

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The scenic splendour and recreational opportunities draw hundreds of thousands of tourists to the Rockies annually. National parks, (Jasper, Banff), forests, many resorts, and vacation ranches attract an international clientele.

The Rockies received their name from explorers during the early 19th century because of the mountains' rugged topography.
The Mountains have long been a barrier to transportation and settlements. The discovery (1858) of gold, and later of other minerals, was the major catalyst to economic development in the area. Today thousands of people visit the area's many national parks, monuments, and summer and winter sports resorts.

There are many types of wildlife (animals) in the Canadian Rocky Mountains, including Rocky Mountain Goats, bighorn sheep, black, brown, and grizzly bears, coyotes, lynx, and wolverines.

A wide variety of metallic minerals is found in the Rockies, including significant deposits of copper, gold, lead,
molybdenum, silver, tungsten, and zinc.

The Rockies are sparsely populated; probably less than a million permanent residents live there. There are farms, ranches,
towns, villages and resort towns.