O Canada is a country located in North America.
It is the second country in the world in terms of land area. It borders the United States to the south and northwest (Alaska) and the Atlantic Ocean to the north.
The flag of Canada depicts a maple leaf, typical of the region.
General data
- Official name: Canada
- Capital: Ottawa
- Territorial extension: 9,900,610 km2
- Inhabitants: 35.8 million inhabitants (World Bank, 2015)
- GDP (Gross Domestic Product): US$ 1.5 trillion (World Bank, 2015)
- Climate: Temperate with four well-defined seasons
- Official languages: English and French
- Religion: More than 90% of the population is Christian. However, there is no official religion in the country.
- Currency: Canadian Dollar
- Government system: Constitutional monarchy federal
- Major cities: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Ottawa and Edmonton
Territorial Division
Canada map
Canada is a federation made up of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces are:
- Alberta
- English Columbia
- Manitoba
- New Brunswick
- Newfoundland and Labrador
- Nova Scotia
- Ontario
- Prince Edward Island
- Quebec
- Saskatchewan
And the three territories:
- Yukon
- Nunavut
- Northeast Territory
The country is divided into seven regions: the Pacific coast, the mountain range, the prairies, the Canadian shield, the Great Lakes, the Appalachians and the Arctic.
The country is bordered by the Atlantic, Arctic and Pacific oceans.
culture of canada
members of the Inuit people
Canadian culture results from the mixture of English and French settlers with indigenous peoples. The children of settlers with the indigenous Inuit people are called métis.
This multicultural aspect is noticed mainly in languages, as there are two official languages: French and English.
Inuit natives and other indigenous groups were not always treated well. Their territory was invaded and populations confined to reserves.
Many had their children taken from their coexistence and placed in schools where they received a Western education so that any trace of their culture would be erased.
Currently, however, these policies have been revised and Canada is considered one of the most receptive countries in the world. It maintains a policy of religious and cultural tolerance and seeks to maintain the tradition of ancestral peoples.
Canada attracted Asians who were employed as workers in mines and railroads from the 19th century through the 20th century.
They are also part of the ethnic base of Canadians, Germans, Italians, Ukrainians, Poles, Dutch, Chinese, Portuguese and Scandinavians.
Immigration in Canada
The country has excellent quality of life indices. O Human development Index is 0.967 (2016), the third in the world, and has good schools and universities.
Therefore, every year, it receives students from all over the world interested in studying English or French, doing exchange programs or pursuing an undergraduate degree.
Likewise, many Brazilians discovered that Canada has facilities to immigrate in relation to other nations.
After all, the Canadian system is based on a policy of points (where education level counts, for example), employability and family reunification.
Thus, there are very expressive Brazilian communities in cities like Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and in the capital itself, Ottawa.
history of canada
The Inuit Indians were the first inhabitants of the region that today corresponds to the territory of Canada and lived off hunting and fishing. Before, the Inuit were called eskimos, but this name is no longer accepted.
The French began exploring the territory shortly after the arrival of Christopher Columbus In america.
The expeditions of the navigator Jacques Cartier (1491-1557), who explored the São Lourenço River and made contact with the Iroquois Indians, enabled the French maritime expansion.
Cartier carried out two more expeditions to the territory, maintaining contact with this tribe.
Subsequently, the first city to be founded in the territory was Quebec, in 1608, by Samuel Champlain.
There was an intense effort by France to populate the region. Interest, however, came up against difficult terrain, with an almost inhospitable climate and harsh winters.
The natives, realizing that the French were here to stay, replaced the courtesy of the first trips in open hostility.
Likewise, the English began to occupy that territory taking advantage of the fact that they already had settlers installed in the 13 colonies.
With that, disputes between the English and the French began, always supported by indigenous tribes, who fought side by side with the whites.
The English conquest was enshrined after the Seven Years War (1756-1763). Through Treaty of Paris, the English took control of the region, but allowed the French colonists to retain their language and religion.
On July 1, 1867, three British provinces signed an act of independence from the United Kingdom and formed the Confederation of Canada.
Only in 1931 was there an extension of autonomy, and in 1982 the country formally detached itself from the British Parliament.
Currently, the Canadian provinces have a lot of autonomy, but they have a federal government that coordinates them and keeps the British sovereign as head of state.
Geographical Aspects of Canada
Canada is as big as it is inhospitable. have the four seasons well defined. Thus, summer can register 35 ºC, while winter minus 50 ºC.
The temperature fluctuation depends on the region. The climate limits the supply of arable land and there is little availability of crops in most of the territory.
The territory is bathed by numerous rivers and crossed by several mountain ranges.
O temperate climate of Canada varies with relief, precipitation and atmospheric pressure.
The most temperate area is found off the coast of British Columbia. In this region, the influence of the warm and humid air currents coming out of the Pacific is intense. Snow is rare in this region.
The warm, moist air that comes out of the Pacific Ocean it is retained in the Cordillera area, which forms the Coast Range and the Rocky Mountains.
Unable to advance towards the plains, the humid air crosses the mountains, where it cools and falls as rain.
The rain, however, is less in the valleys that lie between the mountains and, therefore, there are high-temperature summers.
On the prairies, winters are harsh and summers very hot. It is in this region that the chinook during the winter.
O chinook it is the winter wind that, as it is hot, causes temperatures to rise by up to 16 degrees in a day.
In the Great Lakes region, winter is accompanied by severe snowfall. The heaviest winters occur in the region called Atlantic Canada. In this area, the fog lasts until summer, when the thermometers do not exceed 18ºC.
Tourism in Canada
Canada's natural diversity invites tourists from all over the world. Winter attractions are the most sought after by visitors.
The country also has a great diversity of natural landscapes that delight tourists. The Government of Canada maintains 38 national parks that make up 2% of Canadian territory, as well as 836 historic sites, 1000 provincial parks and 50 territorial parks.
The places that attract the most tourists are Vancouver and Toronto. Among the most exuberant attractions are Niagara Falls, located near the city of Bufallo, on the US border.
Niagara Falls
Curiosities
- Canada has six time zones.
- Less than 1% of the world's population lives in the country.
- Canadian lakes contain 20% of all fresh water in the world.
- It is the country with the largest immigrant population in the world: 1 in 5 Canadians were not born in Canada. Every year 300,000 new immigrants enter the country.
- Until 1982, any Canadian constitutional amendment required the approval of the British authorities.
Read too:
- Canada flag
- North America
- North American countries
- Anglo-Saxon America
- NAPHTHA
- APEC
- G20
- G7
- G8 - Group of Eight
- OAS - Organization of American States
