The course Work of KHarina Elizaveta Group 1 "J" Zrafshan 2010

The course Work of KHarina Elizaveta Group 1 «J» Zrafshan 2010

Canada For other uses of «Canada» and «Canadian», see Canada and Canadian .

Canada 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 and its common border with the United States to the south and northwest is the longest in the world.

The land occupied by Canada was inhabited for millennia by various groups of Aboriginal people. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored, and later settled along, 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 of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

A federation 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 both at the federal level and in the province of New Brunswick. One of the world's highly developed countries, Canada has a diversified economy that is reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade-particularly with the United States, with which Canada has had a long and complex relationship. It is a member of the G8, G_20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and UN.



Contents

1 Etymology

2 History

2.1 European colonization

2.2 Canadian Confederation

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



1 Etymology

Main article: Name of Canada

The name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian word, kanata, meaning «village» or «settlement». In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier towards the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but also the entire area subject to Donnacona; by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.

From the early 17th century onwards, that part of New France that lay along the Saint Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes was named Canada, an area that was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada, until their re-unification as the Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and Dominion was conferred as the country's title; combined, the term Dominion of Canada was in common usage until the 1950s. Thereafter, as Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply Canada on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982



2. History

Main article: History of Canada

See also: Aboriginal peoples in Canada and Timeline of Canadian history

Aboriginal Canadian traditions maintain that the indigenous people have resided on their lands since the beginning of time, while archaeological studies support a human presence in the northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago. It is estimated that, when Europeans began settling what is now Canada, there were about 200,000 Aboriginal people. The repeated outbreaks of influenza, measles and smallpox probably resulted in a decline of between one-half and two-thirds of the Aboriginal population of eastern North America during the first 100 years of European contact.

2.1 European colonization

See also: Territorial evolution of Canada

The fur trade was Canada's most important industry until the 19th century.

Europeans first arrived when the Vikings settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows around AD 1000; after the failure of that colony, there was no further attempt at North American exploration until 1497, when John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast for England, followed by Jacques Cartier in 1534 for France.

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. Among French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the Saint Lawrence River valley and 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 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; the Treaty of Paris ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.

Benjamin West's The Death of General Wolfe dramatizes Wolfe's death during the Battle of the Plains of Abraham at Quebec in 1759. The battle was part of the Seven Years' War.

The Royal Proclamation carved the Province of Quebec out of New France and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia. In 1769, St. John's 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. The Treaty of Paris 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. 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 the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and the British Empire. The defence of Canada 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 surpassed the fur trade in importance in the early nineteenth century.

Robert Harris's Fathers of Confederation is an amalgamation of scenes from the Charlottetown and Quebec conferences.

The desire for responsible government resulted in the aborted Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into British culture. 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 and in British Columbia . 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.

2.2 Canadian Confederation

Main article: Canadian Confederation

An animated map, exhibiting the growth and change 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. Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Metis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870. British Columbia and Vancouver Island and the colony of Prince Edward Island joined the Confederation in 1871 and 1873, respectively.

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald's Conservative government 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, opened the prairies to settlementwith 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 World War I in 1914 with Britain's declaration of war, sending volunteers to the Western Front, who later became part of the Canadian Corps. The Corps played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major battles of the war. Out of approximately 625,000 who served, about 60,000 were killed and another 173,000 were wounded. 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 BC Regiment, DCO, marching in New Westminster, 1940. About 1.1 million Canadians served in WWII. Of these more than 45,000 lost their lives.

The Great Depression brought economic hardship to all of Canada. In response, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation in Alberta and Saskatchewan enacted many measures of 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.

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. Canada is credited by the Netherlands for having provided asylum and protection for its monarchy during the war after the country was occupied, and for its leadership and major contribution to the liberation of the Netherlands from Nazi Germany. 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 1945, during the war, Canada became one of the founding members of the United Nations.

This growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965, the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969, and official multiculturalism in 1971. There was also the founding of Socially democratic programmes, such as universal health care, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions. Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

At the same time, Quebec was undergoing profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution, giving birth to a nationalist movement in the province and the more radical Front de liberation du Quebec, whose actions ignited the October Crisis in 1970. A decade later, an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association was held in 1980, after which attempts at constitutional amendment failed in 1989. A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6% to 49.4%. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.



3.Government and politics

Main articles: Government of Canada and Politics of Canada

See also: Monarchy of Canada and List of Canadian political parties

Parliament Hill, Ottawa

Canada has a parliamentary government with strong democratic traditions. Parliament is composed of the Crown, an elected House of Commons, and an appointed Senate. Each Member of Parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the prime minister within five years of the previous election, or may be triggered by the government's losing a confidence vote in the House.

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 had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2008 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada, the Liberal Party of Canada, the New Democratic Party, and the Bloc Quebecois. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Canada's federalist structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Unicameral provincial legislatures operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons. Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but with fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces and with some structural differences .

The chamber of the House of Commons

Canada is also a constitutional monarchy, with The Crown acting as a symbolic or ceremonial executive. The Crown consists of Queen Elizabeth II and her appointed viceroys, the governor general, and provincial lieutenant-governors, who perform most of the monarch's ceremonial roles. The political executive consists of the prime minister and the Cabinet and carries out the day-to-day decisions of government. The Cabinet is made up of ministers usually selected from the House of Commons and headed by the prime minister, who is normally the leader of the party that holds the confidence of the House of Commons.

The Prime Minister's Office is one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting, besides other Cabinet members, senators, federal court judges, heads of Crown corporations and government agencies, and the governor general. The Crown formally approves parliamentary legislation and the prime minister's appointments. 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 intended to keep the government in check. Michaelle 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 Michael Ignatieff, leader of the Liberal Party, has been Leader of the Opposition since December 10, 2008.



4. Law

Main article: Law of Canada

See also: Court system of Canada

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

The constitution is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. 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. 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 has been 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 nongovernmental 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-106

Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-107 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.

5. Foreign relations and military

Main articles: Foreign relations of Canada and Canadian Forces

See also: Military history of Canada

A Soviet Tu_95 Bear H aircraft being escorted by a Canadian Air Force McDonnell Douglas CF_188 Hornet fighter in 1987

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 partner.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-109 Canada has nevertheless maintained an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to participate in the Iraq War.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-110http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-111 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 the Francophonie. Canada is noted for having a strong and positive relationship with the Netherlands, and the Dutch government traditionally gives tulips, a symbol of the Netherlands, to Canada each year in remembrance of Canada's contribution to its liberation.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-112

Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of about 65,000 regular and 25,000 reserve personnel.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-113 The unified Canadian Forces comprise the army, navy, and air force.

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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-114http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-115http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-116 Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and 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 in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-117http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-118

Two warships of the Canadian Navy-the Halifax-class frigate HMCS Vancouver and the Iroquois-class destroyer HMCS Algonquin -at Pearl Harbor upon departing to participate in RIMPAC, the world's largest international maritime exercise

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-119 Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-120 and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere. The number of Canadian military personnel participating in peacekeeping missions has decreased greatly in the 21st Century. As of June 30, 2006, 133 Canadians served on United Nations peacekeeping missions worldwide, including 55 Canadian military personnel, compared with 1149 military personnel as of August 31, 1991 and 1044 military personnel as of December 31, 1996.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-121http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-122http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-123

Canada joined the Organization of American States in 1990; Canada hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-124 Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-125

Two Canadian LAV III at CFB Gagetown

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 has committed to withdraw from Kandahar Province by 2011,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-126 by which time it will have spent an estimated total of $11.3 billion on the mission.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-127

Canada and the U.S. continue to integrate state and provincial agencies to strengthen security along the Canada-United States border through the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-128 Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team has participated in three major relief efforts in recent years; the two-hundred-member team has been deployed in relief operations after the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake in South Asia, Hurricane Katrina in 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-129 In August 2007, Canadian sovereignty in Arctic waters was challenged after 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-130



6. Provinces and territories

Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada

See also: Canadian federalism

Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada. Eastern Canada refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together. Provinces have more autonomy than territories. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.

The provinces are responsible for most of Canada's social programs 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.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-131

A clickable map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals.



7. Geography and climate

Main articles: Geography of Canada and Temperature in Canada

See also: List of countries and outlying territories by total area

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 Saint 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 the U.S. 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, Canada is the second-largest country in the world-after Russia-and the largest on the continent. By land area, it also ranks second.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-132

Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60°W and 141°W longitude,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-133 but this claim is not universally recognized. The northernmost settlement in Canada is Canadian Forces Station Alert on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island-latitude 82.5°N-just 817 kilometres from the North Pole.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-134 Canada has the longest coastline in the world: 243,000 kilometres .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-135

The population density, 3.5 inhabitants per square kilometre, is among the lowest in the world.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-136 The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City - Windsor Corridor, along the Great Lakes and the Saint Lawrence River in the southeast.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-137

Canada has an extensive coastline on its north, east, and west, and since the last ice age it has consisted of eight distinct forest regions.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-138 The vastness and variety of Canada's geography, ecology, vegetation and landforms have given rise to a wide variety of climates throughout the country.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-139 Also because of its vast size, Canada has more lakes than any other country. These lakes contain much of the world's fresh water.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-140http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-141

Moraine Lake in Alberta's Banff National Park-the country's oldest national park

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary according to 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 but can drop below ?40 °C with severe wind chills.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-142 In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground almost six months of the year. Coastal British Columbia is an exception; it enjoys a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter.

On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C, while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C, with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 40 °C .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-143http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-144 For a more complete description of climate across Canada, see Environment Canada's Website.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-145

Canada is also geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-146 The volcanic eruption of Tseax Cone in 1775 caused a catastrophic disaster, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and the destruction of their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia; the eruption produced a 22.5_kilometre lava flow, and according to legend of the Nisga'a people, it blocked the flow of the Nass River.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-147



8. Economy

Main article: Economy of Canada

See also: Economic history of Canada and Agriculture in Canada

Current Canadian banknotes, depicting Wilfrid Laurier, John A. Macdonald, Queen of Canada , William Lyon Mackenzie King, and Robert Borden

Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations, with a high per-capita income, and it is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the G8. It is one of the world's top ten trading nations.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-148 Canada is a mixed market,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-149 ranking lower than the U.S. on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom but higher than most western European nations.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-150http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-151

As of October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate was 8.6%. Provincial unemployment rates vary from a low of 5.8% in Manitoba to a high of 17% in Newfoundland and Labrador.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-152 Canada was home to 69 of the 2000 corporations in the 2008 Forbes Global 2000 compilation of the world's largest companies, ranking the nation 5th globally.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-153

As of 2008, Canada's total government debt burden is the lowest among the G8. The OECD projects that Canada's debt-to-GDP ratio will decline to 19.5% in 2009, which is less than half of the projected average of 51.9% for all G8 countries. According to these projections, Canada's debt burden will have fallen by more than 50 percentage points from its peak in 1995, when it was the second-highest in the G8.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-154

In the past century, the growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to a more industrial and urban one. Like other First World nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-155 Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, with the logging and petroleum industries being two of Canada's most important.

Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-cia-5 Atlantic Canada has vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and large oil and gas resources are centred in Alberta. The immense Athabasca Oil Sands give Canada the world's second-largest oil reserves, behind Saudi Arabia.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-156 In Quebec, British Columbia, Newfoundland & Labrador, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, and Yukon, hydroelectricity is an inexpensive source of renewable energy.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-157http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-158

Canada is one of the world's most important suppliers of agricultural products, with the Canadian Prairies being one of the most important suppliers of wheat, canola, and other grains.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-159http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-160http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-161 Canada is the largest producer of zinc and uranium, and is an important global producer of many other natural resources, such as gold, nickel, aluminium, and lead.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-162 Many towns in the northern part of the country, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-163 Canada is losing about $12 billion a year due to industrial espionage.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-164

Representatives of the Canadian, Mexican, and United States governments sign the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1992.

Economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II. This has drawn the attention of Canadian nationalists, who are concerned about cultural and economic autonomy in an age of globalization, as American goods and media products have become ubiquitous.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-165 The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened the borders to trade in the auto manufacturing industry. In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program and the Foreign Investment Review Agency .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-166

In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to «Investment Canada» in order to encourage foreign investment.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-167 The Canada - United States Free Trade Agreement of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-168 while the North American Free Trade Agreement expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in the 1990s.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-169

In the mid_1990s, the Liberal government under Jean Chretien began to post annual budgetary surpluses and steadily paid down the national debt.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-170 Since 2001, Canada has maintained the best overall economic performance in the G8.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-171 The 2008 global financial crisis caused a recession, which could boost the country's unemployment rate to 10%.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-172 Despite the global recession, Canada's labour market is in need of hundreds of thousands of foreign workers according to the Canadian Minister of Citizenship, Immigration and Multiculturalism.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-173



9. Demographics

Main article: Demographics of Canada

See also: List of cities in Canada, Ethnic groups in Canada, Immigration to Canada, and Religion in Canada

	Largest metropolitan areas in Canada by population (2006 Census)	view * talk * edit
Toronto Montreal Vancouver Ottawa	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Rank	Name	Province	Pop.	Calgary Edmonton Quebec City Winnipeg
	1	Toronto	Ontario	5,113,149	11	Kitchener-Waterloo	Ontario	451,235
	2	Montreal	Quebec	3,635,571	12	St. Catharines-Niagara	Ontario	390,317
	3	Vancouver	British Columbia	2,116,581	13	Halifax	Nova Scotia	372,858
	4	Ottawa-Gatineau	Ontario-Quebec	1,130,761	14	Oshawa	Ontario	330,594
	5	Calgary	Alberta	1,079,310	15	Victoria	British Columbia	330,088
	6	Edmonton	Alberta	1,034,945	16	Windsor	Ontario	323,342
	7	Quebec City	Quebec	715,515	17	Saskatoon	Saskatchewan	233,923
	8	Winnipeg	Manitoba	694,668	18	Regina	Saskatchewan	194,971
	9	Hamilton	Ontario	692,911	19	Sherbrooke	Quebec	186,952
	10	London	Ontario	457,720	20	St. John's	Newfoundland and Labrador	181,113



Canada's 2006 census counted a total population of 31,612,897, an increase of 5.4% since 2001.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-174 Population growth is from immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth. About three-quarters of Canada's population live within 150 kilometres of the United States border.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-175 A similar proportion live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City - Windsor Corridor, the BC Lower Mainland, and the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-176

According to the 2006 census, there are 43 ethnicities claimed by at least 100,000 people in Canada.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-177

The largest ethnic group is English, followed by French, Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian, and First Nations. Approximately one third of respondents identified their ethnicity as «Canadian».http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-178 Canada's aboriginal population is growing at almost twice the national average, and 3.8% of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Another 16.2% of the population belonged to non-aboriginal visible minorities.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-179 The largest visible minority groups in Canada are South Asian, Chinese and Black .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-180 In 1961, less than 2% of Canada's population could be classified as visible minority and less than 1% as aboriginal.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-181http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-Diversity-182

In 2006, 51.0% of Vancouver's population and 46.9% of Toronto's population were visible minorities.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-183http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-184 Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population rose by 27.2%.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-185http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-186 In March 2005, Statistics Canada projected that people of non-European origins will constitute a majority in both Toronto and Vancouver by 2012.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-187 According to a 2005 forecast by Statistics Canada, the proportion of visible minorities in Canada could rise as high as 23% by 2017. A survey released in 2007 reveals that almost one in five Canadians are foreign born.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-statcan-Census-188 Nearly 60% of new immigrants hail from Asia .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-statcan-Census-188

Religion in Canadahttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-189
Religion			Percent
Christianity	?	77.0%
No religion	?	16.2%
Islam	?	2.0%
Judaism	?	1.1%
Buddhism	?	1.0%
Hinduism	?	1.0%
Sikhism	?	0.9%

Canada has the highest per-capita immigration rate in the world, driven by economic policy and family reunification. Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees. In 2009, approximately 265,000 migrants are expected to arrive in Canada.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-190 New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas like Toronto and Vancouver.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-191

In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age of the population was 39.5 years.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-192 The census results also indicate that despite an increase in immigration since 2001, the aging of Canada's population did not slow during the period.

Support for religious pluralism is an important part of Canada's political culture. According to the 2001 census,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-193 77.1% of Canadians identify as being Christians; of this, Catholics make up the largest group. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada, followed by the Anglicans, Baptists, Lutherans, and other Christians .http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-194 About 16.5% of Canadians declare no religious affiliation, and the remaining 6.3% are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which is Islam, followed by Judaism. The number of Muslims in Canada is projected to be some 1.8 million in 2017.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-Diversity-182

Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. Each system is similar, while reflecting regional history, culture and geography.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-education-195 The mandatory school age ranges between 5-7 to 16-18 years,http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-education-195 contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99%.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-cia-5 Post-secondary education is also administered by provincial and territorial governments, which provide most of the funding; the federal government administers additional research grants, student loans, and scholarships. In 2002, 43% of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51%.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-196



10. Culture

Main article: Culture of Canada

See also: National symbols of Canada, Sport in Canada, and Music of Canada

A Kwakwaka'wakw totem pole and traditional «big house» in Victoria, British Columbia

Canadian culture has historically been influenced by British, French, and Aboriginal cultures and traditions. It has also been heavily influenced by American culture because of its proximity and the high rate of migration between the two countries. The great majority of English-speaking immigrants to Canada between 1755 and 1815 were Americans from the Thirteen Colonies. During the War of Independence, 46,000 American Loyalists came to Canada.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-197 Between 1785 and 1812, the Late Loyalists emigrated to Canada in response to promises of land, provided that they agreed to swear allegiance to the Crown.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-198

American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant, in English Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the United States and worldwide.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-199 Many cultural products are marketed toward a unified «North American» or global market.

The creation and preservation of distinctly Canadian culture are supported by federal government programs, laws, and institutions such as the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the National Film Board of Canada, and the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-200

Canada is a geographically vast and ethnically diverse country. Canadian culture has also been greatly influenced by immigration from all over the world. Many Canadians value multiculturalism and see Canadian culture as being inherently multicultural.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canada - cite_note-bickerton-69 Multicultural heritage is the basis of Section 27 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.