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About Canada
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CANADA
In 1535, two Indian Youths told Jacques Cartier about the route to
"kanata." They were referring to the village of Stadacona;
"kanata" was simply the Huron-Iroquois word for
"village" or "settlement." But for want of another
name, Cartier used "Canada" to refer not only to Stadacona
(the site of present day Quebec City), but also to the entire area
subject to its chief, Donnacona. The name was soon applied to a much
larger area: maps in 1547 designated everything north of the St.
Lawrence River as "Canada."
Cartier also called the St. Lawrence River the "rivière de
Canada", a name used until the early 1600s. By 1616, although the
entire region was known as New France, the area along the great river of
Canada and the Gulf of St. Lawrence was still called Canada.
Soon explorers and fur traders opened up territory to the west and to
the south and the area depicted as "Canada" grew. In the early
1700s, the name referred to all lands in what is now the American
Midwest and as far south as the present day Louisiana.
The first use of "Canada" as an official name came in 1791
when the Province of Quebec was divided into the colonies of Upper and
Lower Canada. In 1841, the two Canadas were again united under one name,
the Province of Canada. At the time of Confederation, the new country
assumed the name of Canada
Source: Department of Canadian Heritage
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Canada is the world's second-largest country (9 093 507
km2), surpassed only by the Russian Federation.
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Ottawa, in the province of Ontario.
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Canada has ten provinces and three territories, each with
its own capital city (in brackets): Alberta (Edmonton); British Columbia
(Victoria); Manitoba (Winnipeg); New Brunswick (Fredericton);
Newfoundland (St. John's); Nova Scotia (Halifax); Ontario (Toronto);
Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown); Quebec (Quebec City); Saskatchewan
(Regina); Northwest Territories (Yellowknife); Nunavut (Iqaluit); and
Yukon Territory (Whitehorse).
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Diversity is the keynote of Canada's geography, which
includes fertile plains suitable for agriculture, vast mountain ranges,
lakes and rivers. Wilderness forests give way to Arctic tundra in the
Far North.
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There are many climatic variations in this huge country,
ranging from the permanently frozen icecaps north of the 70th parallel
to the luxuriant vegetation of British Columbia's west coast. Canada's
most populous regions, which lie in the country's south along the U.S.
border, enjoy four distinct seasons. Here, daytime summer temperatures
can rise to 35°C and higher, while lows of minus 25°C are not uncommon
in winter. More moderate temperatures are the norm in spring and fall.
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Canada maintains 39 national parks, which cover about 2
percent of the country's landmass. Banff, located on the eastern slopes
of Alberta's Rocky Mountains, is the oldest, having been established in
1885; Tuktut Nogait, in the Northwest Territories, was established in
1996. There are about 850 national historic sites, designated in honour
of people, places and events that figure in the country's history.
Canada also has over 1 000 provincial parks and nearly 50 territorial
parks.
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Canada's terrain incorporates a number of mountain ranges:
the Torngats, Appalachians and Laurentians in the east; the Rocky,
Coastal and Mackenzie ranges in the west; and Mount St. Elias and the
Pelly Mountains in the north. At 5 959 metres, Mount Logan in the Yukon
is Canada's tallest peak.
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There are some two million lakes in Canada, covering about
7.6 percent of the Canadian landmass. The main lakes, in order of the
surface area located in Canada (many large lakes are traversed by the
Canada-U.S. border), are Huron, Great Bear, Superior, Great Slave,
Winnipeg, Erie and Ontario. The largest lake situated entirely in Canada
is Great Bear Lake (31 328 km2) in the Northwest
Territories.
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The St. Lawrence (3 058 kilometres long) is Canada's
most important river, providing a seaway for ships from the Great Lakes
to the Atlantic Ocean. The longest Canadian river is the Mackenzie,
which flows 4 241 kilometres through the Northwest Territories.
Other large watercourses include the Yukon and the Columbia (parts of
which flow through U.S. territory), the Nelson, the Churchill, and the
Fraser - along with major tributaries such as the Saskatchewan, the
Peace, the Ottawa, the Athabasca and the Liard.
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Canada has six time zones. The easternmost, in
Newfoundland, is three hours and 30 minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time
(GMT). The other time zones are Atlantic, Eastern, Central, Rocky
Mountain and, farthest west, Pacific, which is eight hours behind GMT.
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Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state
with a democratic system of government. The Parliament of Canada, in
Ottawa, consists of the House of Commons, whose members are elected, and
the Senate, whose members are appointed. On average, Members of
Parliament are elected every four years.
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Canada's Constitution contains a Charter of Rights and
Freedoms, which sets out certain fundamental freedoms and rights that
neither Parliament nor any provincial legislature acting alone can
change. These include equality rights, mobility rights and legal rights,
together with freedoms such as speech, association and peaceful
assembly.
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The maple leaf has been associated with Canada for some
time: in 1868, it figured in coats of arms granted to Ontario and
Quebec, and in both World Wars, it appeared on regimental badges. Since
the 1965 introduction of the Canadian flag, the maple leaf has become
the country's most important national symbol.
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Several people participated in designing the Canadian
flag. Jacques St. Cyr contributed the stylized maple leaf, George Bist
the proportions, and Dr. Gunter Wyszechi the colouration. The final
determination of all aspects of the new flag was made by a 15-member
parliamentary committee, which is formally credited with the design.
After lengthy debate, the new flag was adopted by Parliament. It
officially became the national flag on February 15, 1965, now recognized
as Canada's Flag Day.
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O Canada was composed in 1880, with music by Calixa
Lavallée and words by Judge Adolphe-Basile Routhier. In 1908, Robert
Stanley Weir wrote the translation on which the present English lyrics
are based. On July 1, 1980, a century after being sung for the first
time, O Canada was proclaimed the national anthem.
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Currency
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The Canadian dollar is divided into 100 cents.
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Population
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In 2000, Canada's population was 30.7 million.
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Main Cities
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The leading Canadian cities are Toronto (4.68 million),
Montreal (3.43 million), Vancouver (2.01 million), Ottawa-Hull, the
National Capital Region (1.06 million).
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Distribution of Population
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A large majority of Canadians, 77 percent, live in cities
and towns.
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Family Size
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In 1998, the average family size was 3.1, including 1.2
children.
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Living Standard
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Canada ranks sixth in the world in standard of living
(measured according to gross domestic product per capita), behind only
the United States, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany and Japan. Canada's
rank among nations tends to rise even higher in assessments that
consider gross domestic product per capita along with other factors
(e.g., life expectancy, education) that contribute to the overall
quality of life.
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Health Care and Social Security
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Basic health care, with the exception of dental services,
is free at the point of delivery. Also, in most cases, prescription
drugs are dispensed without charge to people over 65 and social aid
recipients. Canada also has an extensive social security network,
including an old age pension, a family allowance, unemployment insurance
and welfare.
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Aboriginal Peoples
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In 1996, about 3 percent of Canadians belonged to one or
more of the three Aboriginal groups recognized by the Constitution
Act, 1982: North American Indian, Métis or Inuit. Of this
percentage, about 69 percent are North American Indian, 26 percent Métis
and 5 percent Inuit.
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Religion
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According to the 1991 census, more than four-fifths of
Canadians are Christian, with Catholics accounting for about 46 percent
of the population and Protestants about 36 percent. Other religions
include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. Some 12.5
percent, more than any single denomination except Roman Catholic, have
no religious affiliation at all.
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Languages
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Canada has two official languages: English, the mother
tongue of about 59 percent of Canadians; and French, the first language
of 23 percent of the population. A full 18 percent have either more than
one mother tongue or a mother tongue other than English or French, such
as Chinese, Italian, German, Polish, Spanish, Portuguese, Punjabi,
Ukrainian, Arabic, Dutch, Tagalog, Greek, Vietnamese, Cree, Inuktitut,
or other languages.
The Official Languages Act makes French and English the
official languages of Canada and provides for special measures aimed at
enhancing the vitality and supporting the development of English and
French linguistic minority communities. Canada's federal institutions
reflect the equality of its two official languages by offering bilingual
services.
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Ethnic Origin
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In 1996, about 19 percent of the population reported
"Canadian" as their single ethnic origin, with 17 percent
reporting British Isles-only ancestry and 9 percent French-only
ancestry. About 10 percent reported a combination of British Isles,
French, or Canadian origin, with another 16 percent reporting an
ancestry of either British Isles, French or Canadian in combination with
some other origin. Some 28 percent reported origins other than the
British Isles, French or Canadian.
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Education
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The educational system varies from province to province
and includes six to eight years of elementary school, four or five years
of secondary school and three or four years at the university
undergraduate level. The 1996 census revealed that, among Canadians aged
15 and over, about 23 percent had graduated from secondary school, some
9 percent had bachelor's degrees, and about 6 percent had advanced
degrees.
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Sports
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Canada's most popular sports include swimming, ice hockey,
cross-country and alpine skiing, baseball, tennis, basketball and golf.
Ice hockey and lacrosse are Canada's national sports.
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Main Natural Resources
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The principal natural resources are natural gas, oil,
gold, coal, copper, iron ore, nickel, potash, uranium and zinc, along
with wood and water.
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Leading Industries
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These include automobile manufacturing, pulp and paper,
iron and steel work, machinery and equipment manufacturing, mining,
extraction of fossil fuels, forestry and agriculture.
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Exports
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Canada's leading exports are automobile vehicles and
parts, machinery and equipment, high-technology products, oil, natural
gas, metals, and forest and farm products.
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Source: Communication Canada |
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