title: Ponoka County
text: # Ponoka County
  
  Ponoka County is a municipal district in Alberta, Canada. It covers 721,396 acres (2,919 $km^2)$ and it claims to "embody the essence of rural Alberta".
  
  ## History
  
  Ponoka County was founded on January 1, 1952. The county's first public officials were Mr. Bruce Ramsey, who directed municipal affairs, Mr. Peter McDonald as secretary-treasurer, and Mr. L.G. Saunders was head of the school system. The town gets its name from the Blackfoot word for Elk.
  
  ## Demographics
  
  In the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Ponoka County had a population of 9,998 living in 3,689 of its 4,255 total private dwellings, a change of 2% from its 2016 population of 9,806. With a land area of 2,807.99 $km^2$ (1,084.17 sq mi), it had a population density of $3.6/km^2$ (9.2/sq mi) in 2021.
  
  In the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Ponoka County had a population of 9,806 living in 3,535 of its 4,199 total private dwellings, a 10.7% change from its 2011 population of 8,856. With a land area of 2,814.26 $km^2$ (1,086.59 sq mi), it had a population density of $3.5/km^2$ (9.0/sq mi) in 2016.
  
  ## Government
  
  The chief administrative officer (CAO) of Ponoka County is Charlie Cutforth. The five members of council, Nancy Hartford, Bryce Liddle, Mark Matejka, Paul McLauchlin, and Doug Weir, were elected October 21, 2013. Councillor Paul McLauchlin, from electoral division 4, was selected the reeve in a 2013 organizational meeting.
  
  