The municipality recently changed its name from the Municipal District (M.D.) of Northern Lights No. 22 to the County of Northern Lights. The Province of Alberta officially approved the name change on February 3, 2010.[3]
On April 1, 1995, the M.D. of Northern Lights No. 22 was formed through the incorporation of the former Improvement District No. 22 as a municipal district.
As a census subdivision in the 2021 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, the County of Northern Lights had a population of 4,152 living in 1,559 of its 1,864 total private dwellings, a change of -1.1% from its 2016 population of 4,200. With a land area of 20,627.02 km2 (7,964.14 sq mi), it had a population density of 0.2/km2 (0.5/sq mi) in 2021.[2]
As a census subdivision in the 2016 Census of Population conducted by Statistics Canada, Northern Lights had a population of 4,200 living in 1,538 of its 1,846 total private dwellings, a 2% change from its 2011 population of 4,117.[6] This includes the population of the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement (544),[7] located within the census subdivision that is a municipality independent of the County of Northern Lights.[4] With a land area of 20,755.37 km2 (8,013.69 sq mi), the census subdivision had a population density of 0.2/km2 (0.5/sq mi) in 2016.[6] Excluding the Paddle Prairie Metis Settlement, the County of Northern Lights had a population of 3,656 in 2016,[6] a change of 2.8% from its 2011 population of 3,555.[8]