Canada

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For other uses of "Canada" or "Canadian", see Canada (disambiguation) and Canadian (disambiguation).

Canada
Motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare  (Latin) "From Sea to Sea"
Anthem: "O Canada" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"
Capital		Ottawa 45°24′N, 75°40′W
Largest city		Toronto
Official languages		English, French
Recognised regional languages		Inuktitut, Inuinnaqtun, Cree, Dëne Sųłiné, Gwich’in, Inuvialuktun, Slavey, Tłįchǫ Yatiì
Demonym		Canadian
Government		Parliamentary democracy and Federal constitutional monarchy
-	Monarch	HM Queen Elizabeth II
-	Governor General	Michaëlle Jean
-	Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
Establishment
-	British North America Act	July 1 1867
-	Statute of Westminster	December 11 1931
-	Canada Act	April 17 1982
Area
-	Total	9,984,670 km² (2nd) 3,854,085 sq mi
-	Water (%)	8.92 (891,163 km²/344,080 mi²)
Population
-	2008 estimate	33,418,000Canada\'s population clock (source code). Statistics Canada (2007-12-04). Retrieved on 2007-12-21. “StartPop = 32976026; EndPop = 33305836; StartDate = new Date(2007, 6, 1); EndDate = new Date(2008, 6, 1)”  (36th)
-	2006 census	31,612,897
-	Density	3.2/km² (219th) 8.3/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$1.274 trillionCIA World Factbook[GDP PPP Rankings 2007] (13th)
-	Per capita	$38,200CIA World Factbook[GDP PPP Per Capita Rankings] (21st)
GDP (nominal)		2007 estimate
-	Total	$1.406 trillion CIA World Factbook[GDP Nominal Rankings 2007] (9th)
-	Per capita	$42,738 (14th)
Gini		32.1 (2005)CIA World Factbook[Gini rankings]
HDI (2007)		▲ 0.961 (high) (4th)
Currency		Canadian dollar ($) (CAD)
Time zone		(UTC-3.5 to -8)
-	Summer (DST)	(UTC-2.5 to -7)
Internet TLD		.ca
Calling code		+1
Canada portal

Canada (IPA: /ˈkænədə/) is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world\'s second largest country by total area,Central Intelligence Agency (2006-05-16). The World Factbook: Canada. Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 2007-05-06. and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.

The lands have been inhabited for millennia by various groups of aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America in 1763 after the Seven Years War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion.Territorial evolution (html/pdf). Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. “In 1867, the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are united in a federal state, the Dominion of Canada....”Canada: History (html/pdf). Country Profiles. Commonwealth Secretariat. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. “The British North America Act of 1867 brought together four British colonies ... in one federal Dominion under the name of Canada.”Hillmer, Norman; W. David MacIntyre. Commonwealth (html). Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Project. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. “With CONFEDERATION in 1867, Canada became the first federation in the British Empire ...”^[disputed] This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has a long and complex relationship.

Contents 1 Etymology 2 History 3 Government and politics 4 Law 5 Foreign relations and military 6 Provinces and territories 7 Geography and climate 8 Economy 9 Demographics 10 Culture 11 Language 12 International rankings 13 See also 14 Notes 15 References 16 External links

Etymology

Main article: Name of Canada

Jacques Cartier

The name Canada most likely comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement". In 1535, inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct explorer Jacques Cartier toward the village of Stadacona.Trigger, Bruce G.; Pendergast, James F. (1978). "Saint-Lawrence Iroquoians", Handbook of North American Indians Volume 15. Washington: Smithsonian Institution, pp. 357–361. OCLC 58762737.  Cartier used the word \'Canada\' to refer to not only that village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona. By 1545, European books and maps began referring to this region as Canada.Jacques Cartier (1545). Relation originale de Jacques Cartier. Tross (1863 edition). Retrieved on 2007-02-23.

The French colony of Canada referred to the part of New France 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 adopted for the entire country, and Dominion was conferred as the country\'s title.J. E. Hodgetts. 2004. "Dominion". Oxford Companion to Canadian History, Gerald Hallowell, ed. (ISBN 0195415590) Toronto: Oxford University Press; p. 183: "The title conferred on Canada by the preamble to the Constitution Act, 1867, whereby the provinces declare \'their desire to be federally united into one Dominion under the Crown of the United Kingdom\'." It was frequently referred to as the Dominion of Canada until the 1950s. As Canada asserted its political autonomy from Britain, the federal government increasingly used Canada on legal state documents and treaties. The Canada Act 1982 refers only to "Canada" and, as such, it is currently the only legal (and bilingual) name. This was reflected in 1982 with the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day.

History

Main articles: History of Canada, Timeline of Canadian history, and Territorial evolution of Canada

The fur trade was Canada\'s most important industry until the 1800s

Various groups of Inuit and First Peoples inhabited North America prehistorically. While no written documents exist, various forms of rock art, petroforms, petroglyphs, and ancient artifacts provide thousands of years of information about the past. Archaeological studies support a human presence in northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago.Cinq-Mars, J. (2001). "On the significance of modified mammoth bones from eastern Beringia". The World of Elephants - International Congress, Rome. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. Wright, J.V (2001-09-27). A History of the Native People of Canada: Early and Middle Archaic Complexes. Canadian Museum of Civilization Corporation. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. 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 for England "John Cabot =". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Encyclopædia Britannica.  and Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France; "Cartier, Jacques". World book Encyclopedia. World Book, Inc.. ISBN 071660101X. Retrieved on 2007-09-01.  seasonal Basque whalers and fishermen would subsequently exploit the region between the Grand Banks and Tadoussac for over a century. "Basques". The Canadian Encyclopedia. (2007). Historica. 

French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603 and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608. These would become respectively the capitals of Acadia and Canada. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley, Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while French fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The French and Iroquois Wars broke out over control of the fur trade.

The Death of General Wolfe on the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759, part of the Seven Years\' War.

The English established fishing outposts in Newfoundland around 1610 and colonized the Thirteen Colonies to the south. A series of four Intercolonial Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763. Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the Treaty of Utrecht (1713); the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain following the Seven Years\' War.

The Royal Proclamation (1763) carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. It also restricted the language and religious rights of French Canadians. In 1769, St. John\'s Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony. To avert conflict in Quebec, the Quebec Act of 1774 expanded Quebec\'s territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley, and re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law in Quebec; it angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, helping to fuel the American Revolution.Wars on Our Soil, earliest times to 1885. Retrieved on 2006-08-21. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. Approximately 50,000 United Empire Loyalists fled the United States to Canada.Moore, Christopher (1994). The Loyalist: Revolution Exile Settlement. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart. ISBN 0-7710-6093-9.  New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada and English-speaking Upper Canada, granting each their own elected Legislative Assembly.

Canada was a major front in the War of 1812 between the United States and British Empire. Its defence contributed to a sense of unity among British North Americans. Large-scale immigration to Canada began in 1815 from Britain and Ireland. The timber industry would also surpass the fur trade in importance in the early 1800s.

Fathers of Confederation by Robert Harris, an amalgamation of Charlottetown and Quebec conference scenes.

The desire for Responsible Government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report (1839) would subsequently recommend responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture.David Mills. Durham Report. Historica Foundation of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-18. The Act of Union (1840) merged The Canadas into a United Province of Canada. French and English Canadians worked together in the Assembly to reinstate French rights. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.

The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel, and paving the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858). Canada launched a series of western exploratory expeditions to claim Rupert\'s Land and the Arctic region. The Canadian population grew rapidly because of high birth rates; British immigration was offset by emigration to the United States, especially by French Canadians moving to New England.

An animated map, exhibiting the growth and refactoring of Canada\'s provinces and territories since Confederation.

Following several constitutional conferences, the Constitution Act, 1867 brought about Confederation creating "one Dominion under the name of Canada" on July 1, 1867 with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.Farthing, John (1957). Freedom Wears a Crown. Toronto: Kingswood House. ASIN B0007JC4G2.  Canada assumed control of Rupert\'s Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where Métis\' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba 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.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald\'s Conservative Party established a National Policy of tariffs to protect nascent Canadian manufacturing industries. To open the West, the government sponsored construction of three trans-continental railways (most notably the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory. In 1898, after the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon territory. Under Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.

Canadian soldiers won the Battle of Vimy Ridge in 1917.

Canada automatically entered the First World War in 1914 with Britain\'s declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front, who played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the objection of French-speaking Quebecers. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain; in 1931 the Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada\'s independence.

The Great Depression of 1929 brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Alberta and Saskatchewan presaged a welfare state as pioneered by Tommy Douglas in the 1940s and 1950s. Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.Stacey, C.P. (1948). History of the Canadian Army in the Second World War. Queen\'s Printer.  Canadian troops played important roles in the Battle of the Atlantic, the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid in France, the Allied invasion of Italy, the D-Day landings, the Battle of Normandy and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944. The Canadian economy boomed as industry manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China and the Soviet Union. Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with one of the largest armed forces in the world.

In 1949, Newfoundland joined Confederation. Post-war prosperity and economic expansion ignited a baby boom and attracted immigration from war-ravaged European countries.Harold Troper (2000-03). History of Immigration to Toronto Since the Second World War: From Toronto \'the Good\' to Toronto \'the World in a City\'. Ontario Institute for Studies in Education. Retrieved on 2006-05-19.

The Queen and the Registrar General signing the Constitution Act, 1982.

Under successive Liberal governments of Lester B. Pearson and Pierre Trudeau, a new Canadian identity emerged. Canada adopted its current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965. In response to a more assertive French-speaking Quebec, the federal government became officially bilingual with the Official Languages Act of 1969. Non-discriminatory Immigration Acts were introduced in 1967 and 1976, and official multiculturalism in 1971; waves of non-European immigration had changed the face of the country. Social democratic programs such as Universal Health Care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans were initiated in the 1960s and consolidated in the 1970s; provincial governments, particularly Quebec, fought these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau pushed through the patriation of the constitution from Britain, enshrining a Charter of Rights and Freedoms based on individual rights in the Constitution Act of 1982. Canadians continue to take pride in their system of universal health care, their commitment to multiculturalism, and human rights.Bickerton, James & Gagnon, Alain-G & Gagnon, Alain (Eds). (2004). Canadian Politics, 4th edition, Orchard Park, NY: Broadview Press. ISBN 1-55111-595-6. 

Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes during the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s. Québécois nationalists began pressing for greater provincial autonomy and others for Quebec independence. Radical Quebec nationalist militants of the Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) which committed acts of terrorism against anglophone Québécois brought Canada into crisis in 1970, when they kidnapped British Trade Commissioner John Cross and murdered Quebec Labour Minister Pierre Laporte, in which Canada invoked the controversial War Measures Act which allowed Canadian law enforcement to arrest any suspected militants without warrants. After 1970, no significant militant Quebec nationalism continued, and moderate Quebec nationalism prevailed under the Parti Québécois of Rene Levesque which came to power in Quebec in 1976. A referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980 was rejected by a solid majority of the population. Efforts by Progressive Conservative (PC) government of Brian Mulroney to recognize Quebec as a "distinct society" under the Meech Lake Accord in 1987 collapsed in 1989. Anger in French Quebec and a sense of alienation in Canada\'s western provinces resulted in a sovereignist federal party Bloc Quebecois under Lucien Bouchard and the Reform Party of Canada under Preston Manning rising to prominence in the election of 1993. Each advocated for greater decentralization in Canadian federalism in opposition to the more centralized vision of Liberal Prime Minister Jean Chretien. Another Parti Quebecois government in Quebec led by Jacques Parizeau held a second referendum in 1995 that was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%.Dickinson, John Alexander; Young, Brian (2003). A Short History of Quebec, 3rd edition, Montreal: McGill-Queen\'s University Press. ISBN 0-7735-2450-9.  In 1997, the Canadian Supreme Court ruled unilateral secession by a province to be unconstitutional, and Parliament passed the "Clarity Act" outlining the terms of a negotiated departure. A merger of Reform and PC Parties into the Conservative Party of Canada was completed in 2003. Stephen Harper became party leader and formed a minority government in 2006.

Government and politics

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

Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada, as head of state.Heritage Canada (2005-04-21). The Queen and Canada: 53 Years of Growing Together. Heritage Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.Governor General of Canada (2005-12-06). Role and Responsibilities of the Governor General. Governor General of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. The country is a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions. The constitution is the supreme law of the country,The Constitution Act, 1982. Department of Justice Canada. “"52.(1) The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of Canada, and any law that is inconsistent with the provisions of the Constitution is, to the extent of the inconsistency, of no force or effect.” and consists of written text and unwritten conventions.Department of Justice. Constitution Acts 1867 to 1982. Department of Justice, Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. The Constitution Act, 1867, affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent "similar in principle to that of the United Kingdom" and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments; the Statute of Westminster, 1931, granted full autonomy; and the Constitution Act, 1982, added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any level of government - though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years - and added a constitutional amending formula.The Constitution Act, 1982. Department of Justice Canada. “"38.(1)”

Parliament Hill, Ottawa.

Executive authority is constitutionally vested in the monarch,Canada\'s System of Justice: The Canadian Constitution. Department of Justice Canada.Constitution Act, 1867; III.9 but is in practice exercised by the Cabinet, a committee of the Queen\'s Privy Council, through the monarch\'s representative, the Governor General. As the monarch and viceroy stay apolitical and predominantly ceremonial in order to ensure the stability of government – by convention almost invariably deferring all governmental matters to their ministers in the Cabinet, who are themselves responsible to the elected House of Commons – real executive power is said to lie with the Cabinet, though the monarch and Governor General do retain the right to use discretionary powers in exceptional constitutional crisis situations.Forsey, Eugene; How Canadians Govern Themselves:Parliamentary Government; pg. 2; [Parliamentary Government; Pg. 3]; The Institutions of Our Federal Government; pg. 2; Canadian and American Government; pg. 2; Zolf, Larry; CBC News: Boxing in a Prime Minister; June 28, 2002 The Prime Minister, generally the leader of the political party that commands the confidence of the House of Commons, is appointed by the Governor General to select and head the Cabinet; thus, the Prime Minister\'s Office is one of the most powerful organs of government, responsible for selecting, besides the other Cabinet members, Senators, federal court judges, heads of Crown corporations and government agencies, and the federal and provincial viceroys for appointment. The leader of the party with the second most seats usually becomes the Leader of the Opposition and is part of an adversarial Parliamentary system that keeps the government in check. Michaëlle Jean has served as Governor General since September 27, 2005; Stephen Harper, leader of the Conservative Party has been Prime Minister since February 6, 2006; and Stephane Dion, leader of the Liberal Party of Canada, has been Leader of the Opposition since December 2, 2006.

The Chamber of the House of Commons.

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 or when the government looses the confidence of the House. While there is no minimum term for a Parliament, a new election must be called within five years of the last general election. 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.

Four parties have had substantial representation in the federal parliament since 2006 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the Liberal Party of Canada (Official Opposition), the New Democratic Party (NDP), and the Bloc Québécois. The Green Party of Canada does not have current representation in Parliament, but garners a significant share of the national vote. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Law

Main article: Law of Canada

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

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. since 2000. Its nine members are appointed by the Governor General on the advice of the Prime Minister and Minister of Justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with non-governmental legal bodies. The federal cabinet also 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 rural areas of all provinces except Ontario and Quebec, policing is contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP).

Foreign relations and military

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

The Peacekeeping Monument in Ottawa.

Canada and the United States share the world\'s longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other\'s largest trading partners. Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to participate in the Iraq War. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada\'s membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and La Francophonie (French-Speaking Countries).

Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 64,000 regular and 26,000 reserve personnel.Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs). The National Defence family. Department of National Defence. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. 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.Assistant Deputy Minister (Public Affairs). Canadian Forces Equipment. Department of National Defence. Retrieved on 2006-05-14.

Lester B. Pearson with 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.

Strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth in English Canada led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, the First World War, and the Second World War. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations. Government of Canada (2005). Canada\'s international policy statement : a role of pride and influence in the world. Ottawa: Government of Canada. ISBN 0-662-68608-X. Cooper, Andrew Fenton; Higgot, Richard A.; Nossal, Kim R. (1993). Relocating Middle Powers: Australia and Canada in a Changing World Order. Vancouver: UBC Press. ISBN 0-7748-0450-5.  Canada joined the United Nations in 1945 and became a founding member of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War, and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.

Canada has played a leading role in UN peacekeeping efforts. During the Suez Crisis of 1956, Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (2006). Lester B. Pearson. CBC.ca. Retrieved on 2006-05-22. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989Morton, Desmond (1999). A Military History of Canada. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, pg. 258. ISBN 0-7710-6514-0.  and has since maintained forces in international missions in the former Yugoslavia and elsewhere.

Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001. Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).

Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan.

Since 2001, Canada has had troops deployed in Afghanistan as part of the US 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 the December 2004 tsunami in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in September 2005 and the Kashmir earthquake in October 2005.

In February 2007, Canada, Italy, Britain, Norway, and Russia announced their funding commitments to launch a $1.5 billion project to help develop vaccines they said could save millions of lives in poor nations, and called on others to join them."Rich Nations Launch Vaccine Pact". Reuters. February 10, 2007. In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged following a Russian expedition that planted a Russian flag at the seabed at the North Pole. Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.Blomfield, Adrian (2007-08-03). Russia claims North Pole with Arctic flag stunt. Telegraph. Retrieved on 2007-09-10.

Provinces and territories

Main articles: Provinces and territories of Canada and Canadian federalism

A geopolitical map of Canada, exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories.

Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories; in turn, these may be grouped into regions. Western Canada consists of British Columbia and the three Prairie provinces (Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba). Central Canada consists of Quebec and Ontario. Atlantic Canada consists of the three Maritime provinces (New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia), along with Newfoundland and Labrador. Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together. Three territories (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut) make up Northern Canada. Provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, 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. Using its spending powers, 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. The Lieutenant-Governor is 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

Main articles: Geography of Canada and Temperature in Canada

A satellite composite image of Canada. Boreal forests prevail on the rocky Canadian Shield. Ice and tundra are prominent in the Arctic. Glaciers are visible in the Canadian Rockies and Coast Mountains. Flat and fertile Prairies facilitate agriculture. The Great Lakes feed the St. Lawrence River (in the southeast) where lowlands host much of Canada\'s population.

Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing 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. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia, and largest on the continent. By land area it ranks fourth, after Russia, China, and the United States.World Factbook: Area Country Comparison Table Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude,National Resources Canada (2004-04-06). Territorial Evolution, 1927. National Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-14. but 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 817 kilometres (450 nautical miles) from the North Pole.National Defence Canada (2006-08-15). Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Alert. National Defence Canada. Retrieved on 2006-10-03. Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres.Natural Resources Canada (2006-12-19). [http://gsc.nrcan.gc.ca/coast/facts_e.php CoastWeb: Facts about Canada\'s coastline]. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2007-07-13.

The population density, 3.5 inhabitants per square kilometre (9.1/sq mi), is among the lowest in the world.WorldAtlas.com (2006-02). Countries of the World (by lowest population density). WorldAtlas.com. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 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.railwaypeople.com (2006). Quebec - Windsor Corridor Jet Train, Canada. railwaypeople.com. Retrieved on 2006-10-03. 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 and has a large amount of the world\'s freshwater.The Atlas of Canada (2004-04-02). Drainage patterns. National Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-18.Encarta (2006). Canada. Microsoft Corporation. Retrieved on 2006-06-12.

The Horseshoe Falls in Niagara Falls, Ontario, one of the world\'s most voluminous waterfalls,Natural Resources Canada (2004-04-05). Significant Canadian Facts. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2006-05-16. 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, which contains the island of Newfoundland. South of the Gulf, the Canadian Maritimes protrude eastward along the Appalachian Mountain range from northern New England and 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.

In western Canada, the Mackenzie River flows from the Great Slave Lake to the Arctic Ocean. A tributary of a tributary of the Mackenzie is the South Nahanni River, which is home to Virginia Falls, a waterfall about twice as high as Niagara Falls.

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 vary depending on the location. Winters can be harsh in many regions of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F) but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.The Weather Netw