CANADA






Population
Geography
Government
History
Traditions
Fun stuff
Links






POPULATION
32.8 million inhabitants (July 2005 estimation)

DENSITY
3.3 inhabitants per sq km (square kilometres) (2001)

SURFACE AREA
9,012,112 sq km (square kilometres)

CAPITAL CITY - Ottawa
774,072 inhabitants (2001 census)
4th largest city in Canada
Main airport : The Ottawa Macdonald-Cartier International Airport

MAJOR CITIES
Toronto (ONT) - Montréal (QUE) - Vancouver (BC) - Ottawa (ONT)
Calgary (ALTA) - Edmonton (ALTA) - Québec (QUE) - Hamilton (ONT)
Winnipeg (MAN) - London (ONT)

GEOGRAPHY
13 provinces and territories (capital city)
Highest point : Mount Logan (6,050 m)

1 Alerta (Edmonton)
2 British Columbia (Victoria)
3 Manitoba (Winnipeg)
4 New Brunswick (Fredericton)
5 Newfoundland and Labrador (St John's)
6 Northwest Territories (Yellowknofe)
7 Nova Scotia (Halifax)
8 Nunavut (Iqaluit)
9 Ontario (Toronto)
10 Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown)
11 Quebec (Quebec City)
12 Saskatchewan (Regina)
13 Yukon (Whitehorse)

FLAGS (13 provinces and territories)

MAPS
interactive map (13 provinces)
political divisions
relief
time zones
National Parks

MOTTO
"A Mari usque ad Mare" (meaning "from sea to sea")
Coat of Arms

FLAG
The flag is red and white, the official colours of Canada as appointed by King George V in 1921, with a stylized 11-point red leaf in its centre.
Before the first European settlers arrived, Canada's aboriginal peoples had discovered the food properties of maple (1) sap (2). According to many historians, the maple leaf began to serve as a Canadian symbol as early as 1700. It became official on February 15th, 1965, as an integral component of the national flag of Canada.
notes- (1) maple : érable - (2) sap : sève

NATIONAL ANTHEM
O Canada lyrics in English and French & melody

NATIONAL EMBLEMS
the maple tree and the maple leaf (1)
the beaver (2), symbol of the fur trade (3) in the early days

notes- (1) maple leaf : feuille d'érable - (2) beaver : castor
(3) fur trade : commerce de la fourrure

CANADA DAY
July 1st
On June 20th, 1868, a proclamation signed by the Governor General, Lord Monck, called upon all Her Majesty's loving subjects throughout Canada to join in the celebration of the anniversary of the formation of the union of the British North America provinces in a federation under the name of Canada on July 1st.
The July 1st holiday was established by statute in 1879, under the name "Dominion Day".

EDUCATION
Education is under the complete jurisdiction of the provinces and territories and as such, there is NO FEDERAL EDUCATION SYSTEM. But public education is free upto and including secondary school in all the provinces.
However, each provincial system, while similar to the others, reflects its SPECIFIC regional concerns, and historical and cultural heritage. At the post-secondary level, institutions are divided into community colleges and universities.
Education system

ECONOMY
AGRICULTURE
exxun.com
World factbook

CURRENCY
The Canadian Dollar
Exchange rate online

GOVERNMENT
Constitutional Monarchy and Commonwealth Realm
Federal system of parliamentary government

Many of the country's legislative practices derive from the unwritten practices of and precedents set by the United Kingdom's Westminster parliament; however, Canada has evolved variations.
The political system under which Canada operates, known as the WESTMINSTER SYSTEM, was enshrined by the British Parliament in the Constitution Act of 1867 (also known as "the British North America Act"), but the federal model and division of powers were devised by Canadian politicians. Particularly after World War I, citizens of the self-governing "dominions" began to develop a strong sense of identity, and in the Balfour Declaration, 1926, the British government expressed its intent to grant full autonomy to these dominions. Thus in 1931 the British Parliament passed the Statute of Westminster giving legal recognition to the autonomy of Canada and other dominions. Canadian politicians were unable to obtain consensus on a process for amending the constitution until 1982.
more information wikipedia
Parliament

PRIME MINISTER
PM Paul Martin (since 2003)
ministry : who's who? (function, name, photo)

POLITICAL PARTIES
Four main political parties today :
Liberal Party of Canada
Conservative Party of Canada
Le Bloc Québécois
New Democratic Party of Canada

RELIGION (2001 census)
Roman Catholic 42.6%
Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%)
other Christian 4.4%
Muslim 1.9%
other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16%

HISTORY
canadahistory.com

TRADITIONS & FOLKLORE
Canadian Thanksgiving
Folklore

NATIONAL PARKS
National Parks

FUN STUFF
kidsfuncanada
canada funpage explorers, animals...
Canada Quiz

SELECTION of LINKS
world factbook
government of Canada



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