Red Deer is a city in Central Alberta, Canada. It is located near the midpoint of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor and is surrounded by Red Deer County. Red Deer is Alberta's third most populous city—after Calgary and Edmonton. The city is located in aspen parkland, a region of rolling hills that is subject to oil, grain, and cattle production. Red Deer is a centre for oil and agriculture distribution, and the surrounding region is a major centre for petrochemical production. The Cree peoples called the river on which Red Deer now stands, Waskasoo Seepee. This can be translated "Wapiti River" or "Elk River". Some of the first British traders thought the wapiti were a type of European red deer and gave the river its current name. The fur traders' confusion is not surprising. North American elk or wapiti are different from European elk.