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Economy and transport

Canadian economy is traditionally based on natural resources and agriculture. Canada is the world’s second largest exporter of wheat that is mainly planted on the prairies in the interior of the country. Nevertheless, Canada is not only an agricultural country; some regions are known as industrial centres – e.g. Ontario. Forestry For is also important for the Canadian economy because forests cover 44% of the land area.


In Canada there can be found almost all ores and energy raw materials. In 1896 in the Yukon Territory gold was discovered and this accident started a golden rush all over the world. People from all countries travelled to Yukon to wash out gold.

Canada’s largest source is in minerals. It is first in the exploitation of nickel, zinc and uranium; second in cadmium; third in lead, gas and platinum; fourth in copper and magnesium . It is also an important producer of gold, silver and aluminium. The exploitation of iron ore, oil and coal is less important.

Transport has a key role in Canada, because distances are great. The east-west Canadian Pacific railway built in 1885 and the Canadian National railway contributed a lot to the development of the prairie agriculture. One of Canada’s major highways is the Trans-Canada route; Vancouver is one of its major ports. Canada has more than 93.000 km of railroads and almost 1 million km of roads. Air traffic is very important for long distances in Canada - the largest international airports are Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Gander and Vancouver. The largest ports are Vancouver, Thunder Bay, Port-Cartier, and Sept-Îles.

Thanks to agriculture, forestry, fishing and the mineral industry, Canada belongs among the richest countries in the world (G7). Canada also has one of largest GNP (Gross National Product) in the world - over $ 20.000 per each inhabitant. Its market economy is closely linked with that of the United States.

Indians

In Canada there live about 300 000 Indians. A majority of them (180 000) live in special reservations. There are about 2200 of these reservations and their surface is about 2,5 million hectares. The Indians spoke about 50 languages, but they can be divided into 10 groups. Until the Second World War, their population was dying out, but after the war their population stabilised on the current number. Indians in Canada have almost the same problems as the Romany minority in the Czech Republic. They have problems to get work, because they are less qualified than “normal” people are, government is trying to include them in normal society, but it is a long and difficult process.


Eskimos

The number of Eskimos and Inuits, which are similar to Eskimos, is much smaller than number of Indians. They are only 19 000 and it is 0,1% of Canada’s population. Most of them live in the northern part of Labrador and on the Arctic Isles. Today’s Eskimos do not use dog teams, but they rather use motorised sledges. They live mostly from hunting and they earn some money on making of souvenirs. Eskimos are in the same social situation as Indians. Both these nations are represented in the state by the Minister for “Indian and Northern Affairs”.

Cities and places of interest in Canada

Canada’s capital is Ottawa located in the province of Ontario. Ottawa is “only” the capital of Canada, but it is not the capital of Ontario. That role is played by Toronto, where the world’s tallest structure, Canadian Tower, was built. The largest city in Canada is Montreal and it is also the second largest French-speaking city in the world.


The capitals of a majority of provinces are known as competitors of the National Hockey League (NHL) - Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary, which is also famous as the organiser of the winter Olympic Games in 1988.

Toronto is a city of many nationalities. The largest group are the Italians, who create 8% of Toronto’s population. Toronto lies on the coast of Lake Ontario, so it can easily transport anything from and to industrial centres in USA such as Detroit. There are many interesting buildings, not only the Canadian Tower. The new Toronto City Hall is a very interesting building, which is using modern architectonic technologies.

Montreal is situated on an island in the St. Lawrence River. It is one of the oldest cities in Canada, because its history started in 1667. Today, Montreal is one of the largest ports in the world. It is a centre of international events in Canada (1976 Summer Olympic Games). In Montreal there are the most important French-speaking universities in Canada.

Vancouver is the largest city on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is a modern city. All buildings are younger than 100 years, because old wooden Vancouver was burned down in 1886. It is an important transport crossing. There is a harbour and many highways and railroads.


Population and the history of colonisation

The Vikings discovered Canada more than a thousand years ago, but it was rediscovered by the Europeans in the 15th century. The French occupied a large part of the territory in the 16th century. They were followed by the English who captured most of Canada from the French in the wars in the 17th, 18th and 19th century.

Now, the population of Canada is about 28 million people. 45% of Canadians are of British origin, 29% of French origin and 23% have their origins in other European countries. There are also native Canadians - Indians and Eskimos - in Canada, but there are only 319 000 of them (300 000 Indians and 19 000 Eskimos). The name Canada probably came from Indians: one of the tribes used the word “kanata” for settlement.

Most of the inhabitants live near the border with the USA by the St Lawrence River, where the first French colonists settled.

Canada is a bilingual country, but a majority of people speaks English (70%), less French (20%) and the rest are bilingual. Most of the French-speaking population lives in the province of Quebec.

Canada’s population in 1994 was 28,8 million people.

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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