Official name: Canada
Capital: Ottawa
Population: 35.2 million (2013)
Population density: 3.5 per sq km.
Area: 9,984,670 sq km (3,855,102 sq miles).
Language: There are two official languages across all of Canada: English and French. Spoken French is mostly limited to the province of Quebec, although even in Quebec, especially in Montreal, travellers will find English is widely spoken.
Religion: Around 70% of the population belong to the Christian faith; over half are Roman Catholic, followed by the United Church of Canada and Anglican denominations. There are numerous other active denominations and religions.
Political regime: Constitutional monarchy
Head of state: HM Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor General David Johnston since 2010.
Head of government: Prime Minister Stephen Harper since 2006.
Canada is one of the world's leading trading nations and a member of the G8 group of major industrial economies. The country has immense natural resources and a high standard of living.
Agriculture and fisheries are particularly important; Canada exports much of its agricultural produce (principally grain and oil seeds) and is the world's sixth-largest exporter of fish. Timber is another important sector, given that more than 40% of the land area is forest.
As a mineral producer, Canada exports crude oil and natural gas, copper, nickel, zinc, iron ore, asbestos, cement, coal and potash. Energy requirements are met by a mixture of hydroelectric, nuclear, coal and oil-fired generating stations. Manufacturing covers a wide range of industries from heavy engineering and chemicals to vehicle production and agro-business to office automation and commercial printing.
Almost 80% of the country's trade is with the USA, making this the world's largest single bilateral trade relationship.
Canada’s prudent economic policies have allowed it to weather the worst of the global economic downturn, with growth recovering to 3.1% in 2010. This is in part thanks to its increasing population due to immigration. Nonetheless, some economists predict Canada’s housing bubble will soon burst; house prices have rocketed in the past decade, with low interest rates encouraging consumers to borrow ever-increasing amounts.
The first settlements in Canada started in the Yukon approximately 26,000 years ago, arriving from Asia, with settlements expanding towards the Great Lakes, where modern day Toronto exists, some 9,000 years ago. Though they had known about it since 1000 AD, Europeans did not start settling Canada until the 16th century, when England and France began vying for dominance in the new world. Explorers gradually moved further inland, spurred on by the fur trade. After numerous wars between the British and French during this time, the English took control of all the area of New France, including the modern day provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and Quebec.
As the revolution started in the USA in the late 1700s, Canada provided a base for the English in North America. Eventually the territories south of the Great Lakes were ceded to the new country to Canada's south, and the modern day boundary between Canada and the USA was created. On July 1st, 1867, the British North America Act brought about Confederation, creating "one dominion under the name of Canada" with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and also gave control of the Northwest Territories and Yukon to Canada. Manitoba, British Columbia and Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation over the next eight years.
Canada is the 2nd largest country in the world after Russia, offering a wide variety of geography and climate. The southern most parts of Canada in southern Ontario are further south than Rome! Canada lays claim (not universally recognized) to all the Arctic region which would include the North Pole.
Canada has one of the lowest population densities in the world, with only 3.5 people per square kilometre. Given that the majority of Canadian residents live within a few hundred kilometers of the border with USA, with a heavy population concentration in the "Windsor-Quebec City" corridor which includes the major cities of Toronto and Montreal, much of the Northern area of Canada is almost deserted.
The landscape is diverse, ranging from the Arctic tundra of the north to the great prairies of the central area. Westward are the Rocky Mountains, and in the southeast are the Great Lakes, the St Lawrence River and Niagara Falls.
Social conventions:
Handshaking predominates as the normal mode of greeting. Close friends often exchange kisses on the cheeks, particularly in French-speaking areas. Smoking has been banned in most public areas.
