Medicine Hat, known to locals as "The Hat", is a city of nearly 57,000 people located in the southeastern part of the province of Alberta, Canada. It is enclaved within Cypress County along with the nearby town of Redcliff, although neither is part of the county.
It is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, the eastern terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, and the South Saskatchewan River. Nearby towns considered part of the Medicine Hat area include Dunmore, Seven Persons, Redcliff, and Irvine. The Cypress Hills (including Cypress Hills Interprovincial Park) is a relatively short distance (by car) to the southeast of the city. Its major claim to fame is Rudyard Kipling's famous line "all hell for a basement" referring to the vast reserves of natural gas beneath it. It is because of this that the city is known as The Gas City. It is Alberta's sixth largest city.
