Canada is Located in the continent of North America, it covers over 9,984,670 square kilometers of land and 891,163 square kilometers of water, making it the second largest nation in the world and has a land mass of 9,093,507 km2 (3,511,021 mi2) square kilometers.
Canada was founded as a distinct and original nation in 1867. The population of Canada is 36.29 million in (2016) and the nation has a density of 4 people per square kilometer.
The currency of Canada is the Canadian Dollar (CAD). As well, the people of Canada are referred to as Canadians.
The capital of Iceland is Ottawa.
The name Canada comes from the comes from the Huron-Iroquois word “kanata,” meaning “village” or “settlement.
Canada is the second largest country in the world measuring 9.98 million kilometers square.
Canada spans through six-time zones.
Canada has the worlds longest coastline measured at 202,000 kilometers, which is about 4 times that on Indonesia which has a coastline of about 54,716 kilometers.
Canada is home to the worlds northern most permanently inhabited place, named Alert. Alert is found in the territory of Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. In the winter temperature in the region is around -40 degrees C/F. Due to the extreme temperature of Alert, it only has a population of about 62 people.
Canada has the longest binational land border, which is shared with the United States, measuring in at 8,891 kilometers long. Much of this is made up of the border between Canada and the American state of Alaska.
The capital state of Canada is Ottawa, which is populated with about 934,000 people.
Ottawa was made capital of Canada in 1857, by Queen Victoria of Great Britain.
The term Ottawa translates to “Trade”, which is derived from the Algonquin word Adawe.
Ottawa is the seventh coldest capital in the world, others after it are Ulaan Baatar(Mongolia), Astana (Kazakhastan), Moscow(Russia), Helsinki(Finland), Reykjavik(Iceland), Tallin(Estonia).
Ottawa has the youngest population of people living in Canada, with half of it’s population below the age of 35.
Canada is home to over 14 museums, some of them are: Canadian War Museum, Canadian Museum of History, Canada Agriculture and Food Museum, The Bank of Canada Museum, Canada Science and Technology Museum and many more.
The most famous festival in Canada is the Canadian Tulip Festival held every May.
Toronto is the largest city in Canada with a population of 2,731,51 million people.
Popular Hip hop star Drake was born in Toronto Canada, on 24th October 1986 to Mr and Mrs. Graham.
Toronto was formerly known as York as far back as 1793 as simcoe favoured English names over those of first nation languages, in honor of prince Frederick, Duke of York. In 1834 residents petitioned the name be changed back to Toronto, which was later renamed to its original name.
In Canada English and French are official at the federal level, 60% of the people speak English, while about 20% speak French.
Before the arrival of the European colonization in the early 16th century, Canada had been inhabited by indigenous people for thousands of years.
The old inhabitants of Canada are divided into three groups: First Nation, Inuit, Metis.
In a 2010 survey over 1,836,035 people in Canada were reported to be of Aboriginal Ancestry.
The First Nation, Inuit and Metis spoke over 60 different languages in 10 separate language families.
The First Nation people of Canada are indigenous groups south of the Arctic circle, and there are 634 recognized First Nation communities across Canada.
The Metis are of mixed Canadian and European Heritage, and the word Metis translates to “mixed”.
The Nunavut territory was created in 1999, prior to that it was part of the north west territories. This was done to give the nation more autonomy over their affairs.
Nunavut accounts for over 1/5th of the total land area, making it about 210 times the size of Canada’s smallest province “Prince Edward Island”.
The first prime minister of Canada was John A Macdonald, who served as the nations leader twice, and his service years were from 1867-1873 and then 1878-1891.
The current prime minister of Canada is Justin Trudeau, who is the eldest son of prime minister Pierre Trudeau.
Canada attained independence in 1982, with the passing of the constitution act, prior to that the British parliament retained the right to amend the constitution.
Canada is officially bilingual, with the heart of the French speaking populace located in Quebec.
In 1995 Quebec independence was the second referendum to ask voters in the French speaking province of Quebec whether Quebec should proclaim national sovereignty and become an independent nation.
With 50% voting “no” and 49.42% voting “yes” the proposal of June 12 1995 was rejected by voters.
The word Quebec comes from the Algonquin word “Kebec”, meaning “where the river narrows”, referring to the narrowing of the St. Lawrence river.
Montreal, the largest city in Quebec Canada is the second largest city in the World after Paris with a French speaking population.
Out of the 35,000,000 million people living in Canada, only 7,000,000 are Native French speakers.
Montreal is home to the largest comedy festival in the world, themed “just for laughs”.
Canada and the United States are known to celebrate thanksgiving but Canada holds thanksgiving earlier than the Americans on the second Monday of October.
40% of the total land mass in Canada is covered in forest.
Canada holds the world record for highest gold medal won in the winter Olympics, winning over 40 gold medals.
Canada is the only country in the world to have over 50% of it’s populace as University graduates.
Canada is the birth place of popular sports basketball. The game was invented by James Naismith in 1991 while teaching in Massachusetts.
In 2005 Canada became the first Country to legalize same sex marriage.
Maple leaf is considered to be one of the nations most important symbols. This is evident by it’s appearance on the national flag.
Canada is home to about 60% of the worlds Polar beers which is roughly 25,000 of them.
Canada is made up of 10 provinces and 3 territories, the provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, New Foundland, Labrador. Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Saskatchewan and the territories are Yukon territory, North west territories and Nunavut.
The difference between territories and province, is that territories are controlled by the federal government while provinces have far more control over their affairs.
Canada has at least 2 million lakes, more than all the lakes in any other country combined.
The Canadian national anthem titled “O,Canada” was written in 1880 and was originally in French until the Canadian government bought the song for one dollar.
Places to Visit in Canada
Niagara Falls- is the collective name for three waterfalls that straddle the international border between the Canadian province Ontario and the American state of New York. They form the southern end of the Niagara Gorge.
Calgary-The largest city in Alberta! After oil was discovered in the early 1900, Calgary boomed into what is now one of Canada’s largest metropolitan Areas, attracting thousands yearly, to it’s world famous Rodeo event, the “Calgary Stampede”.
Whistler- Whistler is a town north of Vancouver, British Columbia, that’s home to Whistler Blackcomb, one of the largest ski resorts in North America. Besides skiing and snowboarding, the area offers snowshoeing, tobogganing and ski jumping at the Olympic Park, a venue for the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics. The hub of Whistler is a compact, chalet-style pedestrian village at the base of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.
Vancouver Island-Named after George Vancouver, the British explorer, Vancouver is the largest Island off the west coast of the north American Continent, located across Washington state.
Vancouver is famous for the city of Victoria and the wilderness in the north.