Canada
The second largest country in the world by land area, Canada consists of ten provinces and three territories which stretch from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean.
Canada has been inhabited by Indigenous peoples for thousands of years. From the 16th century, British and French settlers arrived. Through the 1867 Confederation Act, Canada became a federation originally consisting of three provinces. Canada is officially a bilingual country with English and French both having official status. The majority of French speakers are located in Quebec although communities can be found in other provinces such as New Brunswick and Ontario. The newest Canadian territory is Nunavut, which separated from the Northwest Territories on April 1st 1999. It is also Canada's largest, northernmost and least populous territory.
Area of Canada
9,984,670 km2
Population of Canada
38,436,447
Facts about Canada
- The federal capital of Canada, Ottawa, has a population of over 1 million and is the fourth largest city in Canada. The three largest cities are Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. The smallest federal capital is Iqaluit, the capital of Nunavut; it is however Nunavut's largest and fastest-growing city.
- Did you know that Canada is a constitutional monarchy and is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations? The Head of State of Canada is His Majesty King Charles III, although the Crown exercises little influence in practice. Canada is a vibrant democracy, with a bicameral legislature based on the Westminster model, headed by the Prime Minister (currently Justin Trudeau).
- Canada has the world’s longest border, an 8,891km long frontier with the United States. Largely due to Canada's northern latitude and sometimes harsh climate, over 90% of the Canadian population lives within 150km of the US border.
- The official currency is the Canadian Dollar (CAD), which is printed in denominations of $5, $10, $20, $50 and $100. The one dollar coin features a loon, earning the nickname 'loonie'; the two dollar coin, which features a polar bear, is similarly nicknamed the 'toonie'.
- Arctic
- Canada
Geography
Canada is a vast country, stretching from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and all the way up into the Arctic.
Canada has the world’s longest coastline, at almost 250,000 kilometres. Canada also has the longest land border in the world, an almost 9.000 km long frontier with the United States. The world’s northernmost settlement, Alert Station lies on Ellesmere Island at 82.5°N, 800km from the North Pole. Canada spans 41.5° of latitude - more than any other country.
Canada boasts a hugely varied geography. In the north, vast tracts of land are permanently icebound, while boreal forest covers the majority of the land south of the treeline. The majority of the world’s liquid fresh water can be found in the 2,000,000 lakes scattered across this vast land.
Canada's northern regions are characterised by a mixture of land and sea; the Canadian Arctic Archipelago (the majority of which lies within Nunavut) contains three of Earth's ten largest islands. Baffin Island alone covers 507,000 square kilometers - more than twice the size of Great Britain!
Climate
Canada has a climate which varies widely from region to region.
The climate of the Canadian Arctic is characterized by long, brutally cold winters and short, cool summers. Iqaluit, Nunavut's capital, has an average July temperature of 12°C (54°F), and a February average temperature of -32°C (-25°F).
Summer
Temperatures in the Canadian Arctic in the summer vary widely according to the geography and weather patterns of this vast region. Inland areas of Nunavut, the Northwest Territories and the Yukon regularly experience temperatures in excess of 30°C, although coastal regions have more temperate climates, rarely rising above 10°C. In northern Ellesmere Island, snow cover last for 10 months of the year, and sea ice is a feature even in summer.
Winter
Winters can be famously harsh throughout Canada. While the small research station of Alert, Nunavut claims the coldest average annual temperature (-19.7°C), the coldest ever temperature in Canada was recorded in the now closed village of Snag in Yukon - a bone-chilling -63°C!
Winters temperatures average around -15C in the populous southern interior of Canada, but strong wind chills can make the temperature feel like -40C. The coldest windchill recorded was in the town of Kugaaruk, a staggering -78.9°C.