BASIC
INFORMATION
Full
Name: CANADA
Capital
Ottawa
Largest city Toronto
Official language
English, French
Government
Federal constitutional monarchy
Area 9,984,670
km²
Population
32,547,200
Currency Canadian
dollar ($) (CAD)
Time
zone (UTC-3.5 to -8)
Internet
TLD .ca
Calling
code +1
|
|
GEOGRAPHY
& BACKGROUND
Canada
(pronounced ['k?æn?d?] in English
and [kanada] in French) is the world's second-largest
country by total area, occupying most of
northern North America. Extending from the
Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and
northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada
shares land borders with the United States
to the south and to the northwest.
Inhabited
first by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was
founded as a union of British colonies,
some of which had been French colonies.
Canada gained independence from the United
Kingdom in an incremental process that began
in 1867 and ended in 1982.
Canada
is a federal constitutional monarchy and
parliamentary democracy, consisting of ten
provinces and three territories, and defines
itself as a bilingual and multicultural
nation; both English and French are official
languages. A technologically advanced and
industrialized nation, its diversified economy
relies heavily on an abundance of natural
resources and on trade, particularly with
the United States, with which Canada has
had a long and complex relationship.
Canada
occupies most of the northern portion of
North America. It shares land borders with
the contiguous United States to the south
and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest,
stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the
east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to
the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Since 1925,
Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic
between 60°W and 141°W longitude;[24]
this claim is not universally recognized.
The northernmost settlement in Canada (and
in the world) is Canadian Forces Station
(CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere
Island—latitude 82.5°N—just
834 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from
the North Pole. Canada is the world's second-largest
country in total area, after Russia.
The
population density of 3.5 people per square
kilometre (9.1/mi²) is among the lowest
in the world.[25] The most densely populated
part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor
Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint
Lawrence River in the southeast. To the
north of this region is the broad Canadian
Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by
the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in
minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—Canada
by far has more lakes than any other country
in the world and has a large amount of the
world's freshwater.[26][27]
The
Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest
component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's
greatest waterfalls[28], a major source
of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.In
eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River
widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence,
the world's largest estuary; the island
of Newfoundland lies at its mouth. South
of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude
eastward from the Gaspé Peninsula
of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia
are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences
the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario
and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada.
West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian
Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains,
which separate them from British Columbia.
Northern
Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous
forests to tundra and finally to Arctic
barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian
mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago
containing some of the world's largest islands.
Average
winter and summer high temperatures across
Canada range depending on the location.
Winters can be harsh in many regions of
the country, particularly in the Prairie
provinces, where daily average temperatures
are near -15 °C (5 °F), but can
drop below -40 °C (-40 °F) with
severe wind chills. [29] Coastal British
Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate
climate with a mild and rainy winter.
Average
summer high temperatures across Canada range
depending on the location. On the east and
west coast average high temperatures are
generally in the low 20s °C (68 to 74
°F), while between the coasts the average
summer high temperature range between 25
°C to 30 °C (78 to 86 °F) with
occasional extreme heat in some interior
locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).
