Canadian Geography

LOCATION

- Canada is on the continent of North America.
- The country stretches from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean.
- The Arctic Ocean is north and the United States is south.
- Canada is north of the 49th parallel of latitude.
- The 49th parallel was chosen as a border from the Great Lakes to the west coast.

Facts

- Second largest country in the world (Russian) Federation is the largest
- Population 33, 212,696 (July 2008 est).
- Capital city of Canada - Ottawa (Ontario)
- Leader of Canada -Prime Minister Stephan Harper
- Emblem- maple leaf
- Flag - red and white with a red maple leaf
- Canada's birthday is on the first of July.
- Animal-the beaver
- Motto-from sea to sea
- National anthem- "O Canada"
- RCMP (ROYAL CANADIAN MOUNTED POLICE) the national police force
- There are six time zones

THE PEOPLE

- Most of the people live in the southern part of Canada.

- About 77 percent of Canadians live in cities and towns.

- The largest cities are Toronto, Montreal, AND VANCOUVER. (2006) Toronto- 5.5 million: MONTREAL- 3.6 million: VANCOUVER

- Saskatchewan is the fastest growing province.

- Canada’s two official languages are English and French.

-More than 9 million Canadians speak French.

- Ethnic groups include British Isles origin28%, French origin23%,other European 15%, North American Indian 2%, other mostly Asian, African, Arab6% mixed background26%
- Canada is the home of a million Aboriginal people.


- Three Aboriginal groups: First Nations, Métis and Inuit


- Eastern Canada: the Maliseet. Algonquin, Iroquois, Micmac, Huron and Ojibwa

-The Plains: Blackfoot, Cree and Assiniboine

- Pacific Coast: Kwakiutl, Bella Coola, and Haida
- Northern regions: Dene, Tsimshian and Slavey peoples
- Arctic region: the Inuit

Land and water

- Canada has the world's longest coastline.

- There are Oceans on three sides- Pacific (west), Atlantic (east), Arctic (North).

- Nearly one-forth of all the fresh water in the world is in Canada.

- Glaciers shaped the land and created many lakes (about 2 million lakes).

- The Mackenzie River (in the N.W.T.) is the longest river in Canada.

- Ships sail inland on the St.Lawrence River (from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes).

- Forests cover almost half of Canada.

- Canada has one-tenth of the world’s forests.

- Mount Logan in the Yukon Territory is Canada’s tallest peak at 5,959 metres.

GEOGRAPHY

- Canada has six main geographical regions: AppalachianHighland, CanadianShield, Arctic, lowlands, Interior Plains, Cordillera


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