Canada

Geography
Canada is framed by the USA in the south, the Pacific Ocean and Alaska (USA) in the west, the Arctic Ocean in the north and Atlantic Ocean in the east. Its area is almost 10 million square kilometres (9 976 139 km2) which make it the second largest country in the world. It is divided into ten provinces and two territories: Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon Territory.

Canada is famous for its varied and beautiful countryside , especially near the Great Lake in the south-east and the Slave and Bear Lakes in the north-west. Visitors of Canada usually want to see Niagara Falls that are between the Lake Ontario and the Lake Erie. The Canadian part is called the Horseshoe Fall and is 49 m high and almost 1 km wide. Canada also has high mountain areas, such as the Rocky Mountains and the Mackenzie Mountains.

There are about thirty national parks in Canada; the most known is Jasper National Park in Alberta. Thousands of tourists visit Canada’s national parks all year round. In those parks people can admire the scenery or they can walk, climb, go sightseeing, fishing or skiing there.

Canada can be divided into seven regions, each with a very different landscape and climate:

1) The Pacific Coast - influenced by the Pacific, it has the most moderate climate of all Canada’s regions. This area includes the coast of British Columbia and Vancouver Island.

2) The Cordillera - this region consists of the Rocky Mountains, the Coast Mountains and the other ranges running from north to south. Canada’s highest mountains are St. Elias Mountains. The highest point in Canada, Mount Logan, is located there and it is 6050 m high.

3) The Prairies - the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba are among the richest grain-producing regions in the world. Alberta is a great producer of petroleum in Canada, because under the Prairies there are important resources of oil, natural gas and potash .

4) The Canadian Shield includes a huge inland sea called Hudson Bay. The Shield is the largest geographic feature in Canada. It is considered to be a nucleus of the North American continent and is made of roots of ancient mountains. This region can be called the storehouse of minerals, because of its large resources of gold, silver, zinc, copper and uranium.

5) The Great Lakes - St. Lawrence Lowlands. Two largest Canadian cities - Montreal and Toronto - are located here. This is the industrial heart of Canada. Half of all Canadians live in this small region and more than two thirds of all Canada’s manufactured goods are produced here. But this region is not only industrial; local agriculture is also on a very high level. This region produces maple sugar, grapes, peaches, pears and other fruits.

6) The Atlantic Provinces - Appalachian Region. The smallest Canadian provinces - New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland- are located in this region. The first settlement of this region by the Europeans was in year 1000 AD - the Norse. This region is a large exporter of fish because of its good position near the Gulf Stream.

7) The Arctic is no longer an inaccessible frontier. Many places can be reached by road, and every community is serviced by air. Most have electricity, stores and medical services. During the short summer, when daylight is nearly continuous and flowers bloom on the tundra, the temperature can reach 30°C. However, the winters are long, bitterly cold, dark and unforgiving.

In Canada the climate is mostly continental with warm summers and cold winters, but in the north temperatures can fall to minus 50°C.


Political system

Canadian flag

Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a federal state and parliament democracy with two official languages - French and English.

Canada became a British dominion in 1867. Now it is an independent federal state and a member of the British Commonwealth. Since 1965 it has had its own national flag: red and white are the official colours of Canada while the maple leaf has long been a Canadian symbol.


Toronto skyline with the Canadian Tower which is 554 m high

The head of the state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, usually appointed for a 5-year term by the Canadian cabinet. The leading figure in the political life of the country is the Prime Minister.


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