Canada: Canada is a huge country in the
continent of North America. Canada is comprised of 3,849,675 square
miles (9,976,140 square km); it is the second-largest country in the
world (Russia is first at 17,075,200 sq km). This huge country borders
the Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean, the Arctic Ocean, and the United
States of America. Canada has over 151,480 miles (243,791 km) of
coastline. Most of Canada's human population lives along its southern
border. For a page on
Canadian explorers, click here.
The Capital: The capital of Canada is the city of Ottawa, which
is in the province of Ontario, located above the Great Lakes.
Provinces and Territories: Canada has 10 provinces and 3
territories (the capital of each is shown in parentheses): Alberta
(Edmonton), British Columbia (Victoria), Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown),
Manitoba (Winnipeg), New Brunswick (Fredericton), Nova Scotia (Halifax),
Nunavut (Iqaluit), Ontario (Toronto), Quebec (Quebec City), Saskatchewan
(Regina); Newfoundland (St. John's), Northwest Territories (Yellowknife),
and Yukon Territory (Whitehorse).
Geography: Canada's land ranges from fertile agricultural plains
in the south to freezing tundra in the north. The southwest of Canada (British
Columbia) has a mild climate. Cold winters characterize most of the rest
of Canada. The magnetic North Pole is within Nunavut.
Mountains: Parts of Canada are very mountainous. The tallest
mountain in Canada is the Yukon's Mount Logan, which is 19,850 feet
(6050 m) tall. Canada has many mountain ranges, including the
Appalachians, Torngats, and Laurentians in the eastern regions, the
Rocky, Coastal, and Mackenzie ranges in the western regions, and Mount
St. Elias and the Pelly Mountains in the northern country.
Lakes: Canada has about two million lakes. The biggest lakes are
(in order by their surface area): Lake Huron [36,000 sq. km of Lake
Huron's 59,600 sq. km are in Canada], Lake Great Bear [31,328 sq. km],
Lake Superior [of which 28,700 sq. km of Lake Superior's 82,100 sq. km
are in Canada], Lake Great Slave [also the deepest lake, with a depth of
614 m], Lake Winnipeg, Lake Erie and Lake Ontario. The 2,000,000 lakes
cover about 7.6% of Canada's land.
Rivers: The longest river in Canada is the Mackenzie River, which
is 2,635 miles (4241 km) long. It runs through the Northwest Territories.
Other large and important rivers are the St. Lawrence River (1,900 miles
= 3058 km long), the Yukon River, the Columbia River (partly in the
USA), the Nelson River, the Churchill River, and the Fraser River.
1. What ocean
forms Canada's western border? ________________________
2. What ocean forms Canada's
eastern border? ________________________
3. What ocean lies north of
Canada? _________________________________
4. What is the name of the
enormous Canadian bay that almost divides Canada in two?
_________________________
5. What is the name of the
country that borders Canada to the south?
_______________________________
6. What is the name of the
Bay that separates part of Canada from Greenland?
_________________________
7. What is the name of the
southeastern Canadian gulf that opens to the Atlantic Ocean?
_________________________
8. What is the name of the
large river that flows north into the Beaufort Sea?
_________________________
9. What is the name of the
long lake in south-central Canada? _________________________
10. What is the
name of the tallest peak in Canada? It is located in western Canada,
near Alaska. ___________________
Alberta - a province in southwestern Canada,
between British Columbia and Saskatchewan. British Columbia - a province in southwestern Canada, by the
Pacific Ocean. Manitoba - a province in southern Canada, between Saskatchewan
and Ontario, bordering Hudson Bay. New Brunswick - a province in southeastern Canada that is east of
Quebec and west of Nova Scotia. Newfoundland - a province that is northeast of Quebec. Northwest Territories - a territory in northern Canada between
the Yukon and Nunavut. Nova Scotia - a province in southeastern Canada that is east of
New Brunswick.
Nunavut - a territory in northern Canada east
of the Northwest Territories, bordering the Arctic Ocean and Hudson Bay.
Ontario - a province in southern Canada between Manitoba and
Quebec, bordering Hudson Bay. Prince Edward Island - an island province just north of New
Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Quebec - a province in southern Canada, east of Ontario,
bordering Hudson Bay. Saskatchewan - a province in southern Canada, between Alberta and
Manitoba. Yukon Territory - a territory in northwestern Canada, by the
Pacific Ocean and Alaska.
Canada: A different kind of quiz
Instead of a multiple-choice quiz in which you have to choose the correct
answer, this is a multiple-choice quiz in which you have to choose the
correct question. We give you the answer, and you choose the question.
Answer 1: Around 33 million.
Questions:
a. What is the size of Canada?
b. What is the population of Canada?
c. How many trees are there in Canada?
Answer 2: In the province of Quebec.
Questions:
a. Where are the Rocky Mountains, Canada's largest mountain range?
b. Where do the majority of French Canadians live?
c. What part of Canada is the coldest?
Answer 3: Around 18 per cent.
Questions:
a. What percentage of Canadians speak English and French?
b. What percentage of Canadians speak English?
c. What percentage of Canadians speak French?
Answer 4: Stephen Harper.
Questions:
a. Who is the president of Canada?
b. Who is the king of Canada?
c. Who is the prime minister of Canada?
Answer 5: Ten.
Questions:
a. How many people live in Canada?
b. How many provinces are there in Canada?
c. How many countries does Canada share a border with?
Answer 6: Toronto.
Questions:
a. What is the biggest city in Canada?
b. What is the capital of Canada?
c. What is the largest French-speaking city in Canada?
Answer 7: 1867.
Questions:
a. When did Canada join the United Nations?
b. When did Canada become a country?
c. When did the first Europeans arrive in Canada?
Answer 8: The maple leaf.
Questions:
a. What is the national food of Canada?
b. What is the name of the Canadian national museum?
c. What is the symbol on the Canadian flag?
Answer 9: They are the people who lived in Canada before
the Europeans came. This is their official name.
Questions:
a. Who are the First Nations people?
b. Who are the Indian people?
c. Who are the Eskimo people?
Canada's different!
Like the other countries we've visited for "Destinations",
Canada is an English-speaking country. But there are several things that we
believe make Canada different. Here are some:
A big country but a small population
Canada has a
total area of 9,976,140 square kilometres. It's the second largest country
in the world (after Russia), but it has a population of only 33,098,932. By
way of comparison, Spain has a total area of 504,782 square kilometres a
population of 40,397,842.
Not one but two official languages
Canada is a
bilingual country, with English and French as the official languages. This
means that all Canadian children learn English and French at school, and all
government documents are in both languages. Around 25 per cent of Canadians
speak French as their first language, and the majority lives in the province
of Quebec. Only 18 per cent of Canadians are completely bilingual in English
and French.
A national government but lots of
local decentralised power
Canada is a
parliamentary democracy. Stephen Harper is the current Canadian prime
minister. Canada is divided into 10 provinces and three territories. The
government in Canada is very decentralised. The provinces and territories
are responsible for several aspects of daily life, including health,
education, the environment and social security.
The national government is based in the capital city of Ottawa. Other
important cities in Canada are Montreal (in the province of Quebec),
Vancouver (in the province of British Columbia) and the biggest city,
Toronto (in the province of Ontario).
A northern country but not always a
cold country
Canada is in
the most northern part of North America. It has borders with the United
States to the south and the Arctic to the north. The weather and
temperatures across Canada are not all the same. The winters in Canada can
have daily temperatures of less than -15º C (sometimes going down to -40º
C). But in the summer the temperature in the big cities can go up to 35º C.
A new country but with many old
traditions
The French
and the English were the first Europeans to arrive in Canada in the 1400s.
Canada was a British colony for many years, and only became a country in
1867. The Canadian flag, with its distinctive maple leaf, is 40 years old
(before 1965 Canada used the British flag). Compared with other countries,
Canada is very young. However, there were people living in Canada long
before the Europeans arrived. The English called them Indians, but the
official name is First Nations people, or Native Canadians, or Aboriginal
Canadians. These people have their own languages and traditions that are
thousands of years old.
A diverse country and an open country
Canada is a
multicultural country. Over the years, people from many different countries
have come to live in Canada. Canada has a long history of tolerance of
different cultures. This is very evident in the city of Toronto, which has
lots of different cultural neighbourhoods such as Little Italy, Portuguese
Village, Korea Town, Chinatown, Greektown and many others.
CANADA 
