O Canada is in North America, and is the second largest country in the world in terms of land area., second only to Russia. It has rugged terrain and climates that range from the Temperate, further south, to the Arctic, in the north. The Canadian population is today just over 37.7 million inhabitants, who are concentrated in the southern portions of the territory. The country has high social and economic indicators, currently being one of the largest economies on the planet.
Read too: What are the countries of America?
Canada general data
- Nameofficial: Canada
- Gentile: canadian
- Extensionterritorial: 9,984,670 km²
- Location: North America
- capital: Ottawa
- Climate: Temperate and Arctic
- Government: Federal parliamentary democracy under a constitutional monarchy system
- Divisionadministrative: provinces and territories
- Language: English and French
- religions:
- Catholicism: 34.7%
- Protestantism: 13.4%
- Anglicanism: 4%
- Other Christian religions: 5.1%
- Islam: 3.6%
- Other religions: 7.5%
- Non-religious and atheists: 25.8%
- Unknown: 5.9%
- Population: 37,742,000 inhabitants (UN, 2020)
- Densitydemographic: 4.2 inhab/km²
- IndexinDevelopmentHuman(HDI): 0,929
- Coin: Canadian Dollar (CAD)
- Gross Domestic Product (GDP): US$ 1.76 trillion
- GDP per capita: US$ 46,194.72
- Gini: 0,333
- Timezone: Six time zones
- In the capital: Eastern Standard Time (EST), GMT -5 hours
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foreign relations:
- Apec
- world Bank
- IMF
- Naphtha
- OAS
- G7
- G20
- UN
history of canada
The first foreign peoples that arrived in Canadian lands were the vikings, more precisely on the east coast of the country (or Atlantic coast), around the year 1000. However, the beginning of the settlement of the territory that we know today as Canada took place in much later times.
Europeans only arrived in the region at the end of the 15th century, and, in the following century, the Canadian colonial era began, led by the British. During this same period, the French established themselves in the country, forming their own domains. Some of the provinces into which Canadian territory was divided were united, and the beginning of the Canada's political independence process in 1867.
Over time, other areas were incorporated into this territory and declared their independence from Great Britain. In 1982, Canada enacted the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, a landmark for sovereignty for the country.
See too: Independence of the United States - result of the divergence between England and the Thirteen Colonies
Canada map
Canada geography
With nearly 10 million square kilometers of land area, Canada is the second largest country by area in the world, second only to Russia. The country is located in North America and borders only one nation: the U.S, which includes the territory of the Alaska, to the west.
Thousands of islands make up the so-called Canadian Arctic Archipelago, in the Oarctic ocean, north of mainland Canada. Also considering these areas, the Canadian coastline is 202,080 km.
Canadian climate
Two weather types are predominant in Canadian territory: o seasoned, which occurs in the lands to the south, and the Arctic (and its subclasses), which is distributed over the northernmost portions. Under the influence of maritime and in relief, the east and west coast provinces experience the highest rainfall in the form of rain during autumn and winter.
The most extreme weather conditions are installed in the north, which, in addition to severe winters, registers the lowest temperatures in Canada and the highest volumes of precipitation in the form of snow. In certain areas, the soils are permanently frozen.
Canada relief
More than half of Canada is included in the Canadian shield, covering both the mainland and the set of islands to the north. It is a very old formation and intensely transformed by the action of erosive agents. The central terrains are, therefore, marked by the relief rugged, with average altitudes of 600 meters and the highest elevations on the edges.
The west coast is Canada's main mountainous area., with an emphasis on the Rocky Mountains. Mount Logan, the country's highest peak, is located in this region, with an altitude of 5,959 meters.
Immediately east of the mountainous region of the Pacific coast is the area of Prairie, marked by the presence of hills to the north and flat terrain to the south.
The far east of Canadian territory extends part of the Appalachian mountain range.
Vegetation of Canada
From the north, following the climatic distribution pattern, the vegetation cover of Canada is formed by the characteristic species of Tundra, Taiga and Prairie. It is estimated that the forested area in the country is 38.7% of its territory (UN, 2017).
Canadian hydrography
Canada has a large number of natural lakes and rivers that form its vast drainage network. Its longest river is the Mackenzie, with 4241 km.
The country also home to part of the Great Lakes on its southeastern border with the United States. It is located in Déline, in the Northwest Territories, the largest lake in the country, the Great Lake of the Bear, with 31,153 km².
Read too: What are the parts of a river?
Canada Demographics
The Canadian population is 37,742,000 inhabitants, with most being concentrated in the southern areas of the country. The territory of Canada can be considered sparsely populated, with density of 4.2 inhab/km².
Almost 82% of the population lives in urban areas. The most populous city in Canada is Toronto, southwest of the capital, with 6.2 million inhabitants in its metropolitan region. Ottawa, in turn, has 1,378,200 inhabitants.
In addition to Canadians born in the country, the population is made up of several groups, such as English, Scottish, French, Irish, German, North American indigenous populations and others. English and French are the official languages of Canada, the second being spoken mainly in the province of Quebec and by other Francophone communities in the east.
Canada has one of the highest life expectancies in the world, which is 82.2 years old.
Canada Economy
The Canadian Economy is the ninth largest in the world. Data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) indicate that the GDP of the country at current prices is currently 1.76 trillion dollars, most of which refers to the service sector together with industry.
Canadian underground is rich in natural resources, like Petroleum and natural gas, iron ore, copper, zinc, uranium, potassium, among others, which guide many economic sectors, notably industry. The country also stands out in the production of paper and cellulose and in transport equipment.
O agricultural sector is geared towards fishing, in addition to the production of pork and milk. Despite the small amount of arable land (4.7%), Canada produces corn, barley, wheat, soy and rapeseed, as well as vegetables for domestic consumption.
Canada flag
culture of canada
THE culture Canadian is formed through the influence of the different nationalities that are in the country's territory, especially the English, American and French. The customs and traditions of indigenous populations in certain areas still predominate.
Canada Day is celebrated annually on July 1 to commemorate the beginning of the political independence process in 1867. Many holidays are shared with the United States and celebrated as in that country, the most popular being the halloween and Thanksgiving Day.
Thinking about gastronomy, poutine is one of the main traditional dishes Canadians. It originates in the province of Quebec, and consists of potato chips, curd cheese and meat sauce that covers the other ingredients.
Canada Infrastructure
The Canada has high Human Development Index (HDI), and its population enjoys a good quality of life, taking into account issues such as housing, access to education, security, employment and income, according to data from OECD.
The entire Canadian population has access to electricity. In relation to it, the largest portion of the installed capacity corresponds to renewable sources, such as hydroelectric power. The matrix is also composed of fossil fuels and nuclear energy.
the country is the fourth in number of airports in the world, and has nearly 80 thousand km of railways. Among the national highways, the Trans-Canada Highway stands out, which crosses the country in the east-west direction and is 7821 km long.
See too: The 10 poorest countries in the world
Government of Canada
Canada is a constitutional monarchy in which the head of state is the acting monarch in the United Kingdom. However, the country is also ademocracy federal parliamentarian, which is headed by a governor-general, who represents the queen, and the prime minister, elected by popular vote.
Fun Facts About Canada
- The name Canada comes from the word kanata, originally from the Iroquois indigenous people and which means “village” or “village”.
- The country is home to 20% of the world's freshwater reservoirs and 7% of the planet's renewable water.
- Montreal is the second largest city in the world in terms of French speakers. The first is Paris, capital of France.
- Hockey is one of the main sports played in the country.
- Canada is the country with the largest number of polar bears in the world.
By Paloma Guitarrara
Geography teacher
