Information on Canada

Canada (ⁱ/ˈkænədə/; French: [ka.na.dɑ]) is a country and sovereign state in North America, located to the north of the United States. Its land reaches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and the Arctic Ocean to the north, covering 9.98 million square kilometres (3.85 million square miles), making it the world’s second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. It has the world’s longest coastline and is the only one to touch three oceans.

Canada is divided into ten provinces and three territories. Most parts of the country have a cold or severely cold winter climate, but areas to the south are warm in summer. Much of the land contains forests or tundra, with the Rocky Mountains towards the west. Still, Canada has a population of about 36 million people, of which four-fifth live in urban areas near the southern border with the U.S, the longest between any two countries in the world. The national capital is Ottawa, and the largest city is Toronto; other large cities include Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg and Hamilton.

For a long time, the land which is now part of Canada has been home to many Aboriginal people. Beginning in the 16th century, the French and British empires made colonies in eastern Canada, first by the French in 1537. Because of conflicts between both British and French, each side gained and lost territories within British North America until it was left, in the late 18th century, with what is more or less part of Canada today. The country was formed with the British North America Act on July 1, 1867, when several colonies joined together to make a semi-federal Dominion. Over time, more provinces and territories became part of Canada until it became the ten provinces and three territories we know of today. In 1931, Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and became completely independent when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom as its head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level, meaning that citizens have the right to communicate with the government in either English or French. It is one of the world’s most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations since lots of people moved from many other countries to Canada. Its economy is the eleventh largest in the world, and relies mainly on natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada’s long and complicated relationship with its biggest trading partner, the U.S., has had a big impact on its economy and culture.

Canada is a developed country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education. Canada is a Commonwealth realm member of the Commonwealth of Nations, a member of the Francophonie, and part of several major international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings including the United Nations, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the G8, the Group of Ten, the G20, the North American Free Trade Agreement and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum.

 

For photos of Canada please click here:

http://travel.nationalgeographic.com/travel/countries/canada-photos/#/canada-aurora-borealis_9142_600x450.jpg

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/travel/canada/cities-photos/