Canada

Canada (ˈkænədə/; French: [ka.na.da]) is a country in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean, 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. Canada's border with the United States is the world's longest land border. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its land territory being dominated by forest and tundra and the Rocky Mountains; about four-fifths of the country's population of 35 million people live near the southern border. The majority of Canada has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer.

The land now called Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the Atlantic coast, with the first establishment of a region called "Canada" occurring in 1537. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost territories within British North America until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly geographically comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. In 1931, Canada achieved near total independence from the United Kingdom with the Statute of Westminster 1931, and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 removed the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at federal level. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.

Canada is a developed country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally, and 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 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.

Geography

Canada occupies much of the continent of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south, and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Greenland is to the northeast. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, however, Canada ranks fourth, the difference being due to it having the worlds largest proportion of fresh water lakes.

Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude, but this claim is not universally recognized. Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5°N – which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole. Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 243,042 kilometres (151,019 mi); additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi).

Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield. Canada has over 2,000,000 lakes (563 greater than 100 km2 (39 sq mi)), more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water. There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains.

Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex. The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia. The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River. Canada's population density, at 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills. In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).

Info:

Motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (Latin) | From Sea to Sea
Anthem: "O Canada"
Royal Anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital: Ottawa
Official Language: English | French
Religion: Christianity
Demonym: Canadian
Legislature: Parliament
Area: 9,984,670 km2
Currency: Canadian dollar ($) (CAD)
Time Zone: (UTC−3.5 to −8)
Summer (DST): (UTC−2.5 to −7)
Date Format: dd-mm-yyyy | mm-dd-yyyy | yyyy-mm-dd (CE)
Drives on the: right
Calling code: +1
ISO 3166 Code: CA
International TLD: .ca

Largest Cities/Towns/Districts of Canada

1. Toronto
2. Montreal
3. Vancouver
4. Ottawa-Gatineau
5. Calgary
6. Edmonton
7. Quebec
8. Winnipeg
9. Hamilton
10. Kitchener–Cambridge–Waterloo
11. London
12. St. Catharines–Niagara
13. Halifax
14. Oshawa
15. Victoria
16. Windsor
17. Saskatoon
18. Regina
19. Sherbrooke
20. St. John's

Flag of Canada

The flag of Canada, often referred to as the Canadian flag, or unofficially as the Maple Leaf and l'Unifolié (French for "the one-leafed"), is a national flag consisting of a red field with a white square at its centre, in the middle of which is featured a stylized, red, 11-pointed maple leaf.

Official Website: Canada.ca

Did You Know?

• Canada is the second largest country in the world, right after Russia.
• Canada is the World's Most Educated Country: over half its residents have college degrees.
• Prostitution is legal in Canada. Buying the services of a prostitute is not.
• Canada's lowest recorded temperature was -81.4 degrees Fahrenheit (-63 C) in 1947.
• Canada consumes more macaroni and cheese than any other nation in the world.
• Residents of Churchill, Canada, leave their cars unlocked to offer an escape for pedestrians who might encounter Polar Bears.
• Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world's lakes combined.
• The first Canadian casualties of the Afghanistan war were from an American pilot bombing a training exercise.
• Licence plates in the Canadian Northwest Territories are shaped like polar bears.
• In 2010, a Canadian man rescued a newborn baby from a dumpster, only to find out he was the father.
• Canada has the largest coastline in the world.
• In Newfoundland, Canada, the Atlantic Ocean sometimes freezes so people play hockey on it.
• Every Christmas, one million letters are addressed to Santa Claus at his own postal code: "H0H 0H0, North Pole, Canada."
• With 1,896 km (1,178 mi), the Yonge Street in Canada, is the longest street in the world.
• The Mall of America is owned by Canadians.
• The U.S. / Canada Border is the longest international border in the world and it lacks military defense.
• Canada has no weapons of mass destruction since 1984 and has signed treaties repudiating their possession.
• After the attack on Pearl Harbor during WW2, Canada declared war on Japan before the U.S. did.
• "Canada" is an Iroquoian language word meaning "Village."
• Canada's official phone number is 1-800-O-CANADA.
• Large parts of Canada have less gravity than the rest of Earth. The phenomenon was discovered in the 1960s.
• Police Departments in Canada give out "positive tickets" when they see people doing something positive.
• Americans have invaded Canada twice, in 1775 and 1812. They lost both times.
• Canada has the third largest oil reserves of any country in the world after Saudi Arabia and Venezuela.
• The third country in space, after The U.S. and the USSR, was Canada, which was considered to have the most advanced space program in 1962.
• In Canada, Mexico, India, Russia and Israel, bank notes have Braille-like markings on them for the blind.
• Canada has fewer people than Tokyo's metropolitan area.
• During WW2, Canada gave out buttons to people who tried to enlist but were refused due to medical reasons to show their willingness to fight.
• The Eiffel Tower was almost temporarily relocated to Canada in 1967.

References

• Wikipedia
• Wikimedia
• Fact Slides
• Geo Names