Medicine Hat is a city in southeast Alberta, Canada. It is approximately 169 km east of Lethbridge and 295 km southeast of Calgary. This city and the adjacent Town of Redcliff to the northwest are surrounded by Cypress County. Medicine Hat was the sixth-largest city in Alberta in 2016 with a population of 63,230.Medicine Hat is situated on the Trans-Canada Highway, the eastern terminus of the Crowsnest Highway, and the South Saskatchewan River. Nearby communities considered part of the Medicine Hat area include the Town of Redcliff and the hamlets of Desert Blume, Dunmore, Irvine, Seven Persons, and Veinerville. The Cypress Hills is a relatively short distance to the southeast of the city.Historically, Medicine Hat has been known for its large natural gas fields, being immortalized by Rudyard Kipling as having "all hell for a basement". Because of these reserves, the city is known as "The Gas City".