English World
Canada
Estimated population - 28,435,000 (1995)
Area - 9,976,128 sq km
Canada is the second largest country in the world. It occupies all of North America, except for Greenland and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon. It is bounded on the East by the Atlantic Ocean, on the North by the Arctic Ocean, and on the West by the Pacific Ocean and Alaska.
Provinces - Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia - and three territories - Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, and the Yukon Territory.
Capital - Ottawa
Largest and important cities - The largesti is Toronto; other important cities include Montreal, Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Winnipeg, Hamilton, and Quebec.
Land - Canada has a very long and irregular coastline.
During the Ice Age all of Canada was covered by a continental ice sheet that scoured and depressed the land surface, leaving a covering of glacial drift and innumerable lakes and rivers.
The largest lakes of North America -Great Bear, Great Slave, and Winnipeg - are entirely in Canada.
Canada has a bowl-shaped geologic structure rimmed by highlands, with Hudson Bay at the lowest point.
The Western Cordillera is a geologically young mountain system parallel to the Pacific coast, and form the highest and most rugged section of the country. Mt. Logan (5,959 m) is the highest point in Canada. The Western Cordillera is also rich in minerals and timber and potential sources of hydroelectric power.
Between the Rocky Mts. and the Canadian Shield are the Interior Lowlands, including the prairies, the plains, and the Mackenzie Lowlands. The prairies are Canada's granary.
The Arctic Lowlands and the Innuitians are the most isolated areas of Canada and are barren and snow-covered for most of the year.
People
About 40% of the Canadian population are of British descent, while 27% are of French origin. Another 20% are of other European background, about 10% are of Asian origin.
In the late 1990s, Canada had the highest immigration rate of any country in the world, with more than half the total coming from Asia.
But before the arrival of the europeans, there were other populations living in Canada.
In the north lived the inuit. They arrived from across the Bering Strait into Alaska about 4,000 years ago, long after the arrival of the first Aboriginal peoples 20,000-30,000 years ago. Traditionally, the inuit live from animals and fish.
Religion
About 45% of the people are Roman Catholics, while some 40% are Protestant.
Languages - English and French are the official languages.
Economy
Manufacturing is Canada's single most important economic activity. The leading products are transportation equipment, pulp and paper, processed foods, chemicals, primary and fabricated metals, petroleum, electrical and electronic products, wood products, printed materials, machinery, clothing, and nonmetallic minerals
Canada is a leading mineral producer. It is the world's largest source of nickel, zinc, and uranium, and a major source of lead, asbestos, gypsum, potash, tantalum, and cobalt. Other important mineral resources are petroleum, natural gas, copper, gold, iron ore, coal, silver, and diamonds.
Main crops - wheat, oats, barley, corn, and canola. Canada is one of the world's leading agricultural exporters, especially of wheat.
The main fruit-growing regions are found in Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec, and Nova Scotia. Apples and peaches are the principal fruits grown in Canada.
Fishing is an important economic activity in Canada. Cod and lobster from the Atlantic and salmon from the Pacific have been the principal catches.
Government
Canada is an independent constitutional monarchy and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.
Power on the federal level is exercised by the Canadian Parliament and the cabinet of ministers, headed by the prime minister. The provincial governments have power in the fields of property, civil rights, education, and local government, but the federal government may veto any provincial law.
Short History
Canada's earliest inhabitants arrived via the Alaska-Bering straits route 15,000 years ago. The first Europeans were the Vikings (Leif Ericsson and his crew) who established a colony in New Foundland. In 1608 a French trading post was established at Quebec by Samuel de Champlain. This was the foundations of what was to become New France. In 1663 New France was organized as a French colony.
The French lost Canada to the British in the French and Indian war which lasted from 1756-63. Canada and the continent east of the Mississippi River ceded to Great Britain's growing empire.
In 1867, the Dominion of Canada a self-governing body within the British Empire was established. Under the British North America Act of 1867, Ontario, Quebec, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia became the first four provinces of the new Dominion of Canada. Sir J.A. Macdonald became Canada's first Prime Minister.
Fonts:
www.factmonster.com/ce6/world/A0810114.html
www.atozkidsstuff.com/canada.html
Visit:
www.ottawa.ca/index_en.html
canada.gc.ca/main_e.html
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