Canada ( / ˈ k æ n ə d ə /) is a country occupying most of northern North America North America is the northern continent of the Americas, situated in the Earth's northern hemisphere and in the western hemisphere. It is bordered on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the east by the North Atlantic Ocean, on the southeast by the Caribbean Sea, and on the west by the North Pacific Ocean; South America lies to the southeast, extending from the Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's oceanic divisions. With a total area of about 106,400,000 square kilometres , it covers approximately twenty percent of the Earth's surface and about twenty-six percent of its water surface area. The first part of its name refers to the Atlas of Greek mythology, making the Atlantic the " in the east to the Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean The Arctic Ocean, located in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Arctic north polar region, is the smallest, and shallowest of the world's five major oceanic divisions. The International Hydrographic Organization recognizes it as an ocean, although some oceanographers call it the Arctic Mediterranean Sea or simply the Arctic Sea, classifying. It is the world's second largest country by total area This is a list of the sovereign states and dependent territories of the world, sorted by total area, including all entities on the ISO standard ISO 3166-1. Canada's common border with the United States ^ b. English is the de facto language of American government and the sole language spoken at home by 80% of Americans age five and older. Spanish is the second most commonly spoken language 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 peoples Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations, Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" are falling into disuse. Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are some of the earliest archaeological sites of human habitation in Canada. The Paleo-Indian Clovis, Plano cultures and Pre-Dorset pre-date American. Beginning in the late 15th century, British British colonization of the Americas began in the late 16th century and reached its peak when colonies had been established throughout the Americas. The British were one of the most important colonizers of the Americas, and their American empire came to rival the Spanish American colonies in military and economic might and French The French colonization of the Americas began in the 16th century, and continued in the following centuries as France established a colonial empire in the Western Hemisphere. France founded colonies in much of eastern North America, on a number of Caribbean islands, and in South America. Most colonies were developed to export products such as fish, expeditions explored, and later settled, along the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky in 1763 after the Seven Years' War The Seven Years' War was a major military conflict that lasted from 1756 until the conclusion of the treaties of Hubertusburg and Paris in 1763. It involved all of the major European powers of the period. In 1867, with the union of three British North American British North America consisted of the colonies and territories of the British Empire in continental North America after the end of the American Revolutionary War and the recognition of American independence in 1783 colonies through Confederation Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed, officially beginning on July 1, 1867, with the new provinces of Ontario and Quebec (until then together comprising the Province of Canada) along with two other British colonies, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, which also became provinces, Canada was formed as a federal Federalism is a political concept in which a group of members are bound together by covenant with a governing representative head. The term federalism is also used to describe a system of the government in which sovereignty is constitutionally divided between a central governing authority and constituent political units (like states or provinces) dominion of four provinces.[10][11] This began an accretion of provinces and territories Canada became an independent nation in 1867 when three provinces of British North America were united to form the new nation. One of these colonies split into two new provinces, three other provinces joined later, and three new provinces were carved from the large interior of the country that was ceded to Canada by the United Kingdom soon after it and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of the island of Ireland, and many small islands. Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK with a land. This widening autonomy was highlighted by the Statute of Westminster The Statute of Westminster 1931 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which established legislative equality for the self-governing dominions of the British Empire and the United Kingdom, with a few residual exceptions, notably excluding India. The Statute remains domestic law within each of the other Commonwealth realms, to the extent of 1931 and culminated in the Canada Act The Canada Act 1982 is an Act of Parliament passed by the British Parliament that ended all remaining dependence of Canada on the United Kingdom, by a process known as "patriation". It includes the text of the Constitution Act, 1982, in both of Canada's official languages, in Schedule B, and a translation of the main body into French in of 1982, which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament The Parliament of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the supreme legislative body in the United Kingdom and British overseas territories. Parliament alone possesses legislative supremacy and thereby ultimate power over all other political bodies in the UK and its territories. At its head is the Sovereign, Queen Elizabeth.
A federation A federation , also known as a federal state, is a type of sovereign state characterized by a union of partially self-governing states or regions united by a central (federal) government. In a federation, the self-governing status of the component states is typically constitutionally entrenched and may not be altered by a unilateral decision of consisting of ten provinces and three territories The provinces and territories of Canada combine to make up the world's second largest country by area. There are ten provinces and three territories in all. The major difference between a Canadian province and a territory is that provinces are jurisdictions that receive their power and authority directly from the Constitution Act, 1867, whereas, Canada is governed as a parliamentary democracy A parliamentary system is a system of government in which the ministers of the executive branch are drawn from the legislature and are accountable to that body, such that the executive and legislative branches are intertwined. In such a system, the head of government is both de facto chief executive and chief legislator and a constitutional monarchy A constitutional monarchy is a form of government in which a monarch acts as head of state within the parameters of a written , unwritten (i.e., uncodified) or blended constitution. It differs from absolute monarchy in that an absolute monarch serves as the sole source of political power in the state and is not legally bound by any constitution with Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II is the reigning queen of 16 independent sovereign states known as the Commonwealth realms: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, the Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Kitts and Nevis. In as its head of state Head of state is the generic term for the individual or collective office that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes personifying the continuity and legitimacy of the state and exercising the political powers, functions and duties. It is a bilingual Official bilingualism is the term used in Canada to collectively describe the policies, constitutional provisions, and laws which give English and French a special legal status over other languages in Canada’s courts, parliament and administration nation with both English Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 18 million Canadians (57%), and more than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language. 76% of Canadians outside Quebec speak English natively, but within Quebec the figure drops to just 8% and French Canadian French is an umbrella term referring to the various dialects of French that evolved in Canada and which are spoken there to this day. French is the mother tongue of nearly seven million Canadians, a figure constituting roughly 22% of the national population. At the federal level it has co-official status alongside English. Provincially, as official languages at the federal level. One of the world's highly developed countries The term developed country is used to describe countries that have a high level of development according to some criteria. Which criteria, and which countries are classified as being developed, is a contentious issue and is surrounded by fierce debate. Economic criteria have tended to dominate discussions. One such criterion is income per capita;, 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 The Group of Eight is a forum, created by France in 1975, for governments of six countries in the world: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. In 1976, Canada joined the group (thus creating the G7). In becoming the G8, the group added Russia in 1997. In addition, the European Union is represented within the G8,, G-20 The Group of Twenty Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies: 19 countries plus the European Union. Recently summits meeting at level of Heads of state have been introduced. The 2010 chair country of the G-20 is South Korea, NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization or NATO (pronounced /ˈneɪtoʊ/ NAY-toe; French: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique Nord ), also called the "(North) Atlantic Alliance", is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty which was signed on 4 April 1949. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium,, OECD The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development is an international economic organisation of 31 countries. It defines itself as a forum of countries committed to democracy and the market economy, providing a setting to compare policy experiences, seeking answers to common problems, identifying good practices, and co-ordinating domestic, WTO The World Trade Organization was designed by its founders to supervise and liberalize international trade. The organization officially commenced on January 1, 1995 under the Marrakech Agreement, replacing the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which commenced in 1947, Commonwealth The Commonwealth of Nations, normally referred to as the Commonwealth and previously as the British Commonwealth, is an intergovernmental organisation of fifty-four independent member states. All but two of these countries were formerly part of the British Empire, Francophonie Francophonie is an international organization of polities and governments with French as the mother or customary language, wherein a significant proportion of people are francophones or where there is a notable affiliation with the French language or culture, OAS The Organization of American States is an international organization, headquartered in Washington, D.C., United States. Its members are the thirty-five independent states of the Americas, although Honduras was suspended as a result of the June 28, 2009 coup d’état that expelled President Manuel Zelaya from office, APEC Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation is a forum for 21 Pacific Rim countries (styled 'member economies') to cooperate on regional trade and investment liberalisation and facilitation. APEC's objective is to enhance economic growth and prosperity in the region and to strengthen the Asia-Pacific community. Members account for approximately 40% of the, and UN The United Nations Organization or simply United Nations (UN) (Arabic: الأمم المتحدة, French: Organisation des Nations Unies, Chinese: 联合国 / 聯合國, Spanish: Organización de las Naciones Unidas, Russian: Организация Объединённых Наций) Filipino: Organisasyon ng Nagkakaisang mga Bansa is an.
Etymology
Main article: Name of Canada The name of Canada has been in use since the earliest European settlement in Canada, with the name originating from a First Nations word kanata for "settlement", "village", or "land". Today, Canada is pronounced /ˈkænədə/ in English and [kanada] in French. In Inuktitut, one of the official languages of theThe name Canada comes from a St. Lawrence Iroquoian The St. Lawrence Iroquoians were a prehistoric First Nations/Native American indigenous people who lived from the 1300s until about 1580 CE along the shores of the St. Lawrence River in present-day Quebec and Ontario, Canada, and New York State, United States. They spoke Laurentian languages, a branch of the Iroquoian family. It is likely they word, kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[12] In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City Quebec , French: Québec ([keˈbɛk] ( listen)), also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City (French: Ville de Québec) is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec – after Montreal, about 233 kilometres (145 mi) to the southwest. As of the 2006 region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier Jacques Cartier was a French explorer of Breton origin who claimed what is now Canada for France. He was the first European to describe and map the Gulf of Saint Lawrence and the shores of the Saint Lawrence River, which he named "The Country of Canadas", after the Iroquois names for the two big settlements he saw at Stadacona (Quebec towards the village of Stadacona Stadacona was a 16th century St. Lawrence Iroquoian village near present-day Quebec City. French explorer and navigator Jacques Cartier, traveling and charting the Saint Lawrence River, reached it on 7 September 1535. He returned to Stadacona to spend the winter there with his group of 110 men.[13] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but also the entire area subject to Donnacona Chief Donnacona was the chief of Stadacona, a St. Lawrence Iroquoian village located at the present site of Quebec City, Canada. In 1534 when French explorer Jacques Cartier first arrived at Gaspé Bay (called by them Honguedo), he seized two natives, Dom Agaya and Taignoagny, and took them to France. They returned to Canada with Cartier the (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.[13]
From the early 17th century onwards, that part of New France New France was the area colonized by France in North America during a period extending from the exploration of the Saint Lawrence River, by Jacques Cartier in 1534, to the cession of New France to Spain and Britain in 1763. At its peak in 1712 (before the Treaty of Utrecht), the territory of New France extended from Newfoundland to the Rocky that lay along the Saint Lawrence River The Saint Lawrence River is a large river flowing approximately from southwest to northeast in the middle latitudes of North America, connecting the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. It is the primary drainage of the Great Lakes Basin. It traverses the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and forms part of the international boundary between and the northern shores of the Great Lakes The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater seas located in eastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface and volume. The total surface is 208,610 km2 , and the total volume is 22,560 km3 (5 was known as Canada. The area was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada The Province of Upper Canada was a British colony located in what is now the southern portion of the Province of Ontario in Canada. Upper Canada officially existed from 26 December 1791 to 10 February 1841 and generally comprised present-day Southern Ontario. Its name reflected its position higher up the river or closer to the headwaters of the St and Lower Canada The Province of Lower Canada was a British colony on the lower Saint Lawrence River and the shores of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence (1791–1841). It covered the southern portion of the modern-day Province of Quebec, Canada, and the Labrador region of the modern-day Province of Newfoundland and Labrador. They were re-unified as the Province of Canada in 1841.[14] Upon Confederation in 1867, the name Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and Dominion (a term from Psalm 72:8)[15] was conferred as the country's title. Combined, the term Dominion of Canada was in common usage until the 1950s.[16] 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.[16]
History
Main article: History of Canada See also: Timeline of Canadian historyAboriginal peoples
Main article: Aboriginal peoples in CanadaArchaeological and Indigenous genetic studies support a human presence in the northern Yukon from 26,500 years ago, and in southern Ontario from 9,500 years ago.[17][18][19] Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the earliest archaeological sites of human (Paleo-Indians) habitation in Canada.[20][21][22] Among the First Nations peoples, there are eight unique stories of creation and their adaptations.These are the earth diver, world parent, emergence, conflict, robbery, rebirth of corpse, two creators and their contests, and the brother myth.[23] The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal civilizations included permanent or urban settlements, agriculture, civic and monumental architecture, and complex societal hierarchies.[24] Some of these civilisations had long faded by the time of the first permanent European arrivals (c. late 15th–early 16th centuries), and have been discovered through archaeological investigations.
The aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000[25] and two million in the late 15th century,[26] with a figure of 500,000 currently accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.[27] Repeated outbreaks of European infectious diseases such as influenza, measles and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), combined with other effects of European contact, resulted in a forty to eighty percent aboriginal population decrease post-contact.[25] Aboriginal peoples in Canada include the First Nations,[28] Inuit,[29] and Métis.[30] The Métis a culture of mixed blood originated in the mid-17th century when First Nation and Inuit married European settlers.[31] The Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the early periods.[32]
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Tue, 31 Aug 2010 04:33:38 GMT+00:00
Credit Bloomberg Canada's provincial bonds, led by Quebec, posted the biggest monthly gain since December 2008 after some ... Rogers, Manulife Boost August Debt Sales to Four-Year High: Canada Credit Bloomberg
Tue, 14 Aug 2007 14:33:57 PDT
Air Canada Flight 797 was a scheduled trans-border flight that flew on a Houston, Texas-Dallas/Fort Worth-Toronto, Ontario route. The aircraft on ... video.google.com.
Grant
hu, 02 Sep 2010 05:24:53 GM
Of the 43 players Stephen Hart has called for . Canada. over its last five friendlies, 25 are playing in Europe. And there are plenty, plenty more where those came from. But for the most part the Canadians are playing in lower-ranked ...
