Canada

canada is home to heather johnston of uxbridge ontario canada

For other uses, see Canada (disambiguation).

Canada Formal Name:Canada Common Name:Canada
Flag Coat of arms of Canada Coat of arms
Motto: Latin: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (English: "From Sea to Sea")
Anthem: "O Canada" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital	Ottawa, Ontario
Largest city	Toronto, Ontario
Official languages	English, French
Government	Federal Constitutional Monarchy
• Monarch	Queen Elizabeth II
• Governor General	Michaëlle Jean
• Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Independence  From the UK
• BNA Act	July 1 1867
• Statute of Westminster	December 11 1931
• Canada Act	April 17 1982
• Water (%)	8.92 (891,163 km²)
Population
• August 2006 estimate	32,601,360 (36th)
• 2001 census	30,007,094
GDP (PPP)	2005 estimate
• Total	$1.105 trillion (11th)
• Per capita	$34,273 (7th)
HDI (2005)	0.949 very high (5th)
Currency	Canadian dollar ($) (CAD)
Time zone	UTC-3.5 to -8
• Summer (DST)	UTC-2.5 to -7
Calling code	1
ISO 3166 code	CA
Internet TLD	.ca

Canada, (pronounced [ˈkʰænədə] in English and [kanada] in French) is the world's second-largest country by area, occupying most of northern North America. Extending from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and to the northwest.

Inhabited first by Aboriginal peoples, Canada was founded as a union of British colonies, some of which had earlier been French colonies. Canada peacefully obtained independence from the United Kingdom in a process spanning from 1867 to 1982.

Canada is a federal constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy, consisting of ten provinces and three territories, and defines itself as a bilingual and multicultural nation; both English and French are official languages. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and on trade, particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship.

Origin and history of the name

Main article: Canada's name

The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to the village of Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.

The French colony of Canada, New France, was set up along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. Later it was split into two British colonies, called Upper Canada and Lower Canada until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was officially adopted for the new dominion, which was commonly referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada increasingly acquired political authority and autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly began using simply Canada on state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to Canada and, as such, is currently the only legal, as well as bilingual, name. This was also reflected later in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.

History

Main articles: History of Canada and Timeline of Canadian history

While Aboriginal tradition holds that the First Peoples have inhabited parts of Canada since the dawn of time, archaeological studies date human presence in northern Yukon to 26,000 years ago, and in southern Ontario to 9,500 years ago. Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows circa AD 1000. The next Europeans to explore Canada's Atlantic coast included John Cabot in 1497 and Martin Frobisher in 1576 for England, and Jacques Cartier in 1534 and Samuel de Champlain in 1603 for France. The first permanent European settlements were established by the French at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608, and by the English in Newfoundland, around 1610. European explorers and trappers brought European diseases, which spread rapidly through native trade routes and decimated the Aboriginal population.

File:Death-wolfe.jpg

The Death of General Wolfe, painted by Benjamin West, depicts British General Wolfe's death after his victory at the Battle of the Plains of Abraham in 1759.

As competition for territory, naval bases, furs and fish escalated, several wars broke out involving the French, English and Native tribes. The French and Iroquois Wars erupted between the Iroquois Confederation and the Algonquin, with their French allies, over control of the fur trade. The series of four French and Indian Wars, between 1689 and 1763, saw the French and their Native allies successively lose land to the English. After the British victory in the Seven Years' War, Britain seized the remainder of New France at the Treaty of Paris in 1763.

As a result of the American Revolution, approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists moved to Quebec, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island and Newfoundland. As they were unwelcome in Nova Scotia, New Brunswick was carved out of that colony for them in 1784. Further, to accommodate the English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the province was divided into Francophone Lower Canada and Anglophone Upper Canada under the Constitutional Act in 1791. Soon after, Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire and its successful defence had important long-term effects on Canada, including the building of a sense of unity and nationalism among the population of British North America. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. A series of agreements led to long-term peace between Canada and the United States, interrupted only briefly by raids made by political insurgents such as the Hunters' Lodges and the Fenian Brotherhood.

Following the failed Rebellions of 1837, which demanded responsible government, colonial officials studied the political situation and issued the Durham Report in 1839. One goal—which proved unacceptable for the alliance of anglophone and francophone reformers that had rebelled in 1837-was to assimilate the French Canadians into British culture. The Canadas were merged into a single, quasi-federal colony, the United Province of Canada, with the Act of Union (1840). The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the U.S. in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel and ending joint occupation of the Oregon Country/Columbia District. This led to the creation of the colony of Vancouver's Island [sic] in 1849 and, with the outbreak of the Fraser Canyon Gold Rush, the colony of British Columbia in 1858, but both were entirely separate from the United Province of Canada. By the late 1850s, leaders in Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions, with the intention of assuming control of Rupert's Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly due to high birth rates; large immigration rates from Europe were offset by migration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.

Sir John A. Macdonald, first Prime Minister.

Following the Great Coalition, the Charlottetown Conference and the Quebec Conference of 1864, and the London Conference of 1866, the three colonies—Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick—undertook the process of Confederation. The British North America Act created "one dominion under the name of Canada", with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick. After Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory, which together formed the Northwest Territories in 1870, a lack of attention to the Métis led to the Red River Rebellion, which eventually led to the creation of the province of Manitoba and its entry into Confederation in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had united in 1866) and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively. To connect the union and assert authority over the western provinces, Canada constructed three trans-continental railways, most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway, encouraged immigrants to develop the prairies with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police. As more settlers came to the prairies on the railway and the population grew, regions of the Northwest Territories were given provincial status forming Alberta and Saskatchewan in 1905.

Canadian soldiers advance behind a tank at the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.

Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, and sent formed divisions, composed almost entirely of volunteers, to the Western Front to fight as a national contingent. Casualties were so high that Prime Minister Robert Borden was forced to bring in conscription in 1917; this move was extremely unpopular in Quebec, resulting in his Conservative party losing support in that province. Although the Liberals were deeply divided over conscription, they pulled together and became the dominant political party.

In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations in its own right, and in 1931 the Statute of Westminster confirmed that no act of the British parliament would extend to Canada without its consent. At the same time, the worldwide Great Depression of 1929 affected Canadians of every class; the rise of the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. After supporting appeasement of Germany in the late 1930s, Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King secured Parliament’s approval for entry into the Second World War in 1939, mobilizing the military before Germany invaded Poland. The economy boomed during the war due in large part to the enormous amounts of military materiel being produced for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Canada finished the war with one of the largest militaries in the world. In 1949, the formerly independent Dominion of Newfoundland joined Confederation as Canada's tenth province.

By Canada's centennial in 1967, mass post-war immigration from various war-ravaged European countries had changed the country's demographics. In addition, throughout the Vietnam War, thousands of US American draft dodgers fled to and settled in various parts of Canada. Increased immigration, combined with the baby boom, an economic strength parallelling that of the 1960s United States, and reaction to the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, led to the beginnings of a new type of Canadian nationalism.

At a meeting of First Ministers in November 1981, the federal and provincial governments agreed to the patriation of the constitution, with procedures for amending it. Despite the fact that the Quebec government did not agree to the changes, on 17 April, 1982, Canada, by Proclamation of Queen Elizabeth II, patriated its Constitution from Britain, thereby making Canada wholly sovereign, though the two countries continue to share the same monarch.

After Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, some Québécois began pressing for more provincial autonomy, or even partial or complete independence from Canada. Alienation between English-speaking Canadians and the Québécois over the language, cultural and social divide had been exacerbated by many events, including the Conscription Crisis of 1944. Referendums in Quebec in 1980 and 1995 saw 59.6% and 50.6% of voters reject proposals for sovereignty-association. The Supreme Court, in 1997, ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional.

Economic integration with the United States increased after 1940. The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) of 1994 was a defining moment in integrating the two countries. From the 1980s onward, Canadians worried about their cultural autonomy as American TV shows, movies and corporations became omnipresent. However, Canadians take special pride in their system of universal health care and their commitment to multiculturalism.

Government

Centre Block, Parliament Hill, Ottawa, Ontario.

Main articles: Government of Canada, Politics of Canada, and Monarchy in Canada

Canada is a constitutional monarchy that recognizes Elizabeth II as Queen of Canada (since February 6, 1952), and a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government, and strong democratic traditions.

Canada's constitution governs the legal framework of the country and consists of written text and unwritten traditions and conventions. The Constitution includes the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms for Canadians that, generally, cannot be overridden by legislation of any level of government in Canada. It contains, however, a "notwithstanding clause", which allows the federal parliament and the provincial legislatures the power to override some other sections of the Charter temporarily, for a period of five years.

The position of Prime Minister, Canada's head of government, belongs to the leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a majority in the House of Commons. The Prime Minister and his or her cabinet are formally appointed by the Governor General (who is the queen's representative in Canada.) However, the Prime Minister chooses the cabinet and the Governor General, by convention, respects the Prime Minister's choices. The Cabinet is traditionally drawn from members of the Prime Minister's party in both legislative houses, and mostly from the House of Commons. Executive power is exercised by the prime minister and cabinet, all of whom are sworn into the Privy Council of Canada and become Ministers of the Crown. The Prime Minister exercises a great deal of political power, especially in the appointment of other officials within the government and civil service. Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party, has served as Prime Minister since February 6, 2006.

The federal parliament is made up of the Queen and two houses: an elected House of Commons and an appointed Senate. Each member in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in a "riding" or electoral district; general elections are called by the Governor General when the Prime Minister so advises, and must occur every five years or less. Members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, are chosen by the Prime Minister and formally appointed by the Governor General, and serve until age 75.

Canada's four major political parties are the Conservative Party of Canada, Liberal Party of Canada, New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The current government is formed by the Conservative Party of Canada. While the Green Party of Canada and other smaller parties do not have current representation in Parliament, the list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Law

The Supreme Court of Canada in Ottawa, west of Parliament Hill

Main article: Law of Canada

Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down laws that violate the Constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and is led by the Right Honourable Madam Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin, P.C. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice, after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet appoints justices to superior courts at the provincial and territorial levels. Judicial posts at the lower provincial and territorial levels are filled by their respective governments (see Court system of Canada for more detail).

Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada. Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is a provincial responsibility, but in most provinces policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Foreign relations and military

The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.

Main articles: Foreign relations of Canada, Canadian Forces, and Military history of Canada

Canada has a close relationship with the United States, sharing the world's longest undefended border, co-operating on some military campaigns and exercises, and being each other's largest trading partners. Canada also shares history and long relationships with the United Kingdom and France, the two imperial powers most important in its founding. These relations extend to other former-members of the British and French empires, through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie.

Over the past 60 years, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations. This was clearly demonstrated during the Suez Crisis of 1956 when Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing peacekeeping efforts and the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force. In that spirit, Canada developed and has tried to maintain a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts; Canada has served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989. Canada's UN peacekeeping contributions have diminished over the first years of the 21st century.

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

A founding member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO), Canada currently employs about 62,000 regular and 26,000 reserve military personnel. The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the army, navy, and air force. Major CF equipment deployed includes 1,400 armoured fighting vehicles, 34 combat vessels, and 861 aircraft.

In addition to major participation in the Second Boer War, the First World War, the Second World War, and the Korean War, Canada has maintained forces in international missions under the United Nations and NATO since 1950, including peacekeeping missions, various missions in the former Yugoslavia, and support to coalition forces in the First Gulf War. Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S. stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-commanded International Security Assistance Force. Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) has participated in three major relief efforts in the past two years; the two-hundred member team has been deployed in relief operations after Hurricane Katrina in September 2005, after the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005 and after the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia.

Provinces and territories

A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its 10 provinces and 3 territories.

Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada

Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The three territories are the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.

The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs (such as health care, education, and welfare) and together collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. The federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.

All provinces have unicameral, elected legislatures headed by a Premier selected in the same way as the Prime Minister of Canada. Each province also has a Lieutenant-Governor representing the Queen, analogous to the Governor General of Canada, appointed on the recommendation of the Prime Minister of Canada, though with increasing levels of consultation with provincial governments in recent years.

Geography and climate

A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail throughout the country, ice is prominent in the Arctic and through the Coast Mountains and Saint Elias Mountains, and the relatively flat Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada's population.

Main article: Geography of Canada

Canada occupies most of the northern portion of North America. It shares land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean. Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude; this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada (and in the world) is Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island—latitude 82.5°N—just 834 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole. Canada is the world's second-largest country in total area, after Russia.

The population density of 3.5 people per square kilometre (9.1/mi²) is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor along the Great Lakes and Saint Lawrence River in the southeast. To the north of this region is the broad Canadian Shield, an area of rock scoured clean by the last ice age, thinly soiled, rich in minerals, and dotted with lakes and rivers—Canada by far has more lakes than any other country in the world and has a large amount of the world's freshwater.

The Horseshoe Falls in Ontario is the largest component of Niagara Falls, one of the world's greatest waterfalls, a major source of hydroelectric power, and a tourist destination.

In eastern Canada, the Saint Lawrence River widens into the Gulf of Saint Lawrence, the world's largest estuary; the island of Newfoundland lies at its mouth. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward from the Gaspé Peninsula of Quebec. New Brunswick and Nova Scotia are divided by the Bay of Fundy, which experiences the world's largest tidal variations. Ontario and Hudson Bay dominate central Canada. West of Ontario, the broad, flat Canadian Prairies spread toward the Rocky Mountains, which separate them from British Columbia.

Northern Canadian vegetation tapers from coniferous forests to tundra and finally to Arctic barrens in the far north. The northern Canadian mainland is ringed with a vast archipelago containing some of the world's largest islands.

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada range depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the Prairie provinces, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below -40 °C (-40 °F) with severe wind chills. Coastal British Columbia is an exception and enjoys a temperate climate with a mild and rainy winter.

Average summer high temperatures across Canada range depending on the location. On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (68 to 74 °F), while between the coasts the average summer high temperature range between 25 °C to 30 °C (78 to 86 °F) with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C (104 °F). For a more complete description of climate across Canada see Environment Canada's Website.

Economy

File:Canadian bills.jpg

Five denominations of Canadian banknotes, depicting (from top to bottom) Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen Elizabeth II, William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden.

Main articles: Economy of Canada and Economic history of Canada

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. Canada has traditionally had a lower per capita gross domestic product (GDP) than its southern neighbour (whereas wealth has been more equally divided), but higher than the large western European economies. For the past decade, after a period of turbulence, the Canadian economy has been growing rapidly with low unemployment and large government surpluses on the federal level. Today Canada closely resembles the U.S. in its market-oriented economic system, pattern of production, and high living standards. While as of July 2006, Canada's national unemployment rate of 6.4% is among its lowest in 30 years, provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 3.6% in Alberta to high of 14.6% in Newfoundland and Labrador.

In the past century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban. As with other first world nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important.

Canada is one of the few developed nations that is a net exporter of energy. Canada has vast deposits of natural gas on the east coast and large oil and gas resources centred in Alberta, and also present in neighbouring British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The vast Athabasca Tar Sands give Canada the world's second largest reserves of oil. In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, Ontario and Manitoba, hydroelectric power is a cheap and relatively environmentally friendly source of abundant energy.

Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies one of the most important suppliers of wheat and other grains. Canada is the world's largest producer of zinc and uranium and a world leader in many other natural resources such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead; many, if not most, towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, exist because of a nearby mine or source of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector, centred in southern Ontario, with the automobile industry especially important.

In part due to the large primary sector Canada is highly dependent on international trade, especially trade with the United States. The 1989 Canada-U.S. Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) (which included Mexico) touched off a dramatic increase in trade and economic integration with the U.S. Since 2001, Canada has successfully avoided economic recession and has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8.

Demographics

Main articles: Demographics of Canada, List of cities in Canada, List of Canadians by ethnicity, and Immigration to Canada

The 2001 national census recorded 30,007,094 people; the population is currently estimated by Statistics Canada to be 32.5 million people. Population growth is largely accomplished through immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 160 kilometres (100 mi) of the U.S. border. A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City-Windsor Corridor (notably the Toronto-Hamilton, Montreal, and Ottawa census metropolitan areas), the BC Lower Mainland (Vancouver and environs), and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.

Toronto, Ontario is one of the world's most multicultural cities.

Canada is a very ethnically diverse nation. According to the 2001 census, it has 34 ethnic groups with at least one hundred thousand members each. The largest ethnic group is Canadian (39.4%), followed by English (20.2%), French (15.8%), Scottish (14.0%), Irish (12.9%), German (9.3%), Italian (4.3%), Chinese (3.7%), Ukrainian (3.6%) and North American Indian (3.4%). Canada's aboriginal population is growing almost twice as fast as the rest of the Canadian population. In 2001, 13.4% of the population belonged to visible minorities.

Canadians adhere to a wide variety of religions. According to the last census, 77.1% of Canadians identified as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group (43.6% of Canadians). The largest protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada; about 17% of Canadians declared no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% were affiliated with religions other than Christianity, of which the largest is Islam.

In Canada, the provinces and territories are responsible for education; thus Canada has no national department of education. Each of the 13 education systems are similar while reflecting their own regional history, culture and geography. The mandatory school age varies across Canada but generally ranges between the ages of 5-7 to 16-18, contributing to an adult literacy rate that is 99%. Postsecondary education is the responsibility of the provincial and territorial governments that provide most of their funding; the federal government provides additional funding through research grants. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged between 25 and 64 had post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34 the postsecondary attainment reaches 51%.

Language

The population of Montreal is predominantly francophone, with a significant anglophone community.

Main articles: Language in Canada and Bilingualism in Canada

Canada's two official languages, English and French, are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population, respectively. On July 7, 1969, under the Official Languages Act, French was made commensurate to English throughout the federal government. This started a process that led to Canada redefining itself as an officially "bilingual" nation.

English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. The public has the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French. While multiculturalism is official policy, to become a citizen one must be able to speak either English or French, and 98.5% of Canadians speak at least one (English only: 67.5%, French only: 13.3%, both: 17.7%).

French is mostly spoken in Quebec, but there are substantial francophone populations mainly in the northern parts of New Brunswick, eastern and northern Ontario and southern Manitoba. Of those who speak French as a first language, 85% live in Quebec. French is the official language of Quebec. New Brunswick is the only bilingual province in the country. No provinces other than Quebec and New Brunswick have constitionally official language(s) as such, but French is used as a language of instruction, in courts, and other government services in all of the majority English or Inuktitut speaking provinces and territories. Several aboriginal languages have official status in Northwest Territories. Inuktitut is the majority language in Nunavut, and one of three official languages in the territory.

Non-official languages are important in Canada, with 5,202,245 people listing one as a first language. Some significant non-official first languages include Chinese (853,745 first-language speakers), Italian (469,485), German (438,080), and Punjabi (271,220).

Culture

File:RCMP officer Expo 67.jpg

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police, seen here at Expo 67, are the federal and national police force of Canada and an international icon.

Main articles: Culture of Canada, National symbols of Canada, and Sport in Canada

Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by English, French, Irish, Scottish and Aboriginal cultures and traditions, and over time has been greatly influenced by American culture due to its proximity and the interchange of human capital between the two countries. Many forms of American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide. Many cultural products are now marketed toward a unified "North American" market, or a global market generally.

The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture has been partly influenced by federal government programs, laws and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC), the National Film Board of Canada (NFB), and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC).

File:Totem RMBC 2.jpg

A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional "big house" in Victoria, BC.

As Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country, there are cultural variations and distinctions from province to province and region to region. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by more recent immigration of people from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism, indeed some see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural. Multicultural heritage is enshrined in Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

National symbols are influenced by natural, historical, and First Nations sources. Particularly, the use of the maple leaf, as a Canadian symbol, dates back to the early 18th century and is depicted on its current and previous flags, the penny, and on the coat of arms. Other prominent symbols include the beaver, Canada goose, common loon, the Crown, and the RCMP.

Canada's official national sports are ice hockey (winter) and lacrosse (summer). Hockey is a national pastime, and is by far the most popular spectator sport in the country. It is also the most popular sport Canadians play, with 1.65 million active participants in 2004. Canada's six largest metropolitan areas - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Ottawa, Calgary, and Edmonton - have franchises in the National Hockey League (NHL), and there are more Canadian players in the league than from all other countries combined. Other popular Canadian spectator sports include curling and Canadian football (especially the Canadian Football League). Golf, baseball, skiing, soccer, volleyball, and basketball are widely played at youth and amateur levels, but professional leagues and franchises are not as widespread. Canada will host the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia.

International rankings

Organization	Survey	Ranking
A.T. Kearney/Foreign Policy Magazine	Globalization Index 2005	14 out of 111
IMD International	World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005	5 out of 60
The Economist	The World in 2005 - Worldwide quality-of-life index, 2005	14 out of 111
Yale University/Columbia University	Environmental Sustainability Index, 2005 (pdf)	6 out of 146
Reporters Without Borders World-wide	Press Freedom Index 2005	21 out of 167
Transparency International	Corruption Perceptions Index 2005	14 out of 159
Heritage Foundation/The Wall Street Journal	Index of Economic Freedom, 2006	12 out of 157
United Nations	Human Development Index	5 out of 177

Canada was ranked number one country by the United Nations' Human Development Index 10 times out of 16 between 1980 and 2004. [1]

References

Origin and history of the name

• Rayburn, Alan (2001). Naming Canada: Stories of Canadian Place Names (2nd ed. ed.). Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0-8020-8293-9. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)

History

• Bothwell, Robert (1996). History of Canada Since 1867. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0870133993.
• Bumsted, J. (2004). History of the Canadian Peoples. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195416880.
• Conrad, Margarat (2003). Canada: A National History. Toronto: Longman. ISBN 020173060X. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Morton, Desmond (2001). A Short History of Canada (6th ed. ed.). Toronto: M & S. ISBN 0771065094. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Lamb, W. Kaye (2006). "Canada". The Canadian Encyclopedia.
• Stewart, Gordon T. (1996). History of Canada Before 1867. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0870133985.

Government

• Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics (4th edition ed.). Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1551115956. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Brooks, Stephen (2000). Canadian Democracy : An Introduction (3rd edition ed.). Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press Canada. ISBN 0195415035. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Forsey, Eugene A. (2005). How Canadians Govern Themselves (PDF) (6th ed. ed.). Ottawa: Canada. ISBN 0-662-39689-8. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
• Dahlitz, Julie (2003). Secession and international law : conflict avoidance - regional appraisals. The Hague: T.M.C. Asser Press. ISBN 9067041424.

Foreign relations and military

• Cook, Tim (2005). "Quill and Canon: Writing the Great War in Canada". American Review of Canadian Studies. 35 (3): 503+.
• Eayrs, James (1980). In Defence of Canada. Toronto: University of Toronto Press. ISBN 0802023452.
• Fox, Annette Baker (1996). Canada in World Affairs. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press. ISBN 0870133918.
• Appel, Molot Maureen (1990). "Where Do We, Should We, Or Can We Sit? A Review of the Canadian Foreign Policy Literature". International Journal of Canadian Studies. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Morton, Desmond (1989). Marching to Armageddon: Canadians and the Great War 1914-1919. Toronto: Lester & Orpen Dennys. ISBN 0886192099. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Morton, Desmond (1999). A Military History of Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0771065140.
• Morton, Desmond (1993). When Your Number's Up: The Canadian Soldier in the First World War. Toronto: Random House of Canada. ISBN 0394222881.
• Rochlin, James (1994). Discovering the Americas: The Evolution of Canadian Foreign Policy towards Latin America. Vancouver: University of British Columbia Press. ISBN 0774804769.

Provinces and territories

• Bumsted, J. M. (2004). History of the Canadian Peoples. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195416880.

Geography and climate

• Natural Resources Canada (2005). National Atlas of Canada. Ottawa: Information Canada. ISBN 0770511988.
• Stanford, Quentin H. (ed.) (2003). Canadian Oxford World Atlas (5th ed. ed.). Toronto: Oxford University Press (Canada). ISBN 0-19-541897-2. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help); |edition= has extra text (help)

Economy

• Central Intelligence Agency (2005). The World Factbook. Washington, DC: National Foreign Assessment Center. ISSN 1553-8133.
• Wallace, Iain (2002). A Geography of the Canadian Economy. Don Mills, ON: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195407733.
• Marr, William L. (1980). Canada: An Economic History. Toronto: Gage. ISBN 0771556845. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |coauthor= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
• Innis, Mary Quayle (1943). An Economic History of Canada. Toronto: Ryerson Press. ASIN B0007JFHBQ.

Demography and statistics

• Statistics Canada (2001). Canada Year Book. Ottawa: Queen of Canada. ISBN 0-660-18360-9.
• Leacy, F. H. (ed.) (1983). Historical statistics of Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. {{cite book}}: |author= has generic name (help)

Language

• Statistics Canada (2005-01-27). "Population by mother tongue, by province and territory". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
• Statistics Canada (2005-01-27). "Population by knowledge of official language, by province and territory". Statistics Canada. Retrieved 2006-05-14. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

Culture

• Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics (4th edition ed.). Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1551115956. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
• Blackwell, John D. (2005). "Culture High and Low". International Council for Canadian Studies World Wide Web Service. Retrieved 2006-03-15.
• Canadian Heritage (2002). Symbols of Canada. Ottawa, ON: Canadian Government Publishing. ISBN 0660186152. Similar publication online here.
• National Film Board of Canada (2005). "Mandate of the National Film Board". Retrieved 2006-03-15.
• Currie, Gordon (1968). 100 years of Canadian football: The dramatic history of football's first century in Canada, and the story of the Canadian Football League. Don Mills, ON: Pagurian Press. ASIN B0006CCK4G.
• Maxwell, Doug (2002). Canada Curls: The Illustrated History of Curling in Canada. North Vancouver, BC: Whitecap books. ISBN 1552854000.
• McFarlane, Brian (1997). Brian McFarlane's History of Hockey. Champaign, IL: Sports Publishing Inc. ISBN 1571671455.
• Resnick, Philip (2005). The European Roots Of Canadian Identity. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press. ISBN 1551117053.
• Ross, David & Hook, Richard (1988). The Royal Canadian Mounted Police 1873-1987. London: Osprey. ISBN 085045834X.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

External links

• Official website of the Government of Canada
• Offical website of the Prime Minister of Canada
• Official website of the Governor General of Canada
• Official Government of Canada online Atlas of Canada
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation
• Canadian Forces Official Site
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Canada - Country Page
• Culture.ca - Canada's Cultural Gateway
• Culturescope.ca - Canadian Cultural Observatory
• Canadian Studies: A Guide to the Sources
• Statistics Canada with Canada's population clock
• The Canadian Atlas Online
• Canada at The World Factbook
• Permanent Mission of Canada to the United Nations
• UN Human Development Programme: Country Fact Sheet: Canada, Statistics - Country Sheet: Canada
• Template:Wikitravelpar

Canada Template:Canada ties