title: Birch Hills County
text: # Birch Hills County
  
  Birch Hills County is a municipal district in north-western Alberta, Canada. It is located in Census Division 19, northeast of Grande Prairie.
  
  The district takes its name from a range of hills of the same name, which in turn were named by Cree Indians.
  
  ## History
  
  In January 2021, a helicopter crash happened in the county, in which a family of four were killed.
  
  ## Geography
  
  ### Communities and localities
  
  The following localities are located within Birch Hills County.
  
  **Localities**
  
  * Belloy
  * Codesa
  * Heart Valley
  
  ## Demographics
  
  In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Birch Hills County had a population of 1,516 living in 485 of its 637 total private dwellings, a change of -2.4% from its 2016 population of 1,553. With a land area of 2,848.75 $km^2$ (1,099.91 sq mi), it had a population density of $0.5/km^2$ (1.4/sq mi) in 2021.
  
  In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Birch Hills County had a population of 1,553 living in 496 of its 616 total private dwellings, a -1.8% change from its 2011 population of 1,582. With a land area of 2,859.6 $km^2$ (1,104.1 sq mi), it had a population density of $0.5/km^2$ (1.4/sq mi) in 2016.
  
  