|RConstitution:|N Federal country, recognizing the British sovereign as head of state.
|RNational holiday:|N Canada Day, July 1.
|RNature and climate:|N There are three topographical regions.
In the west the Rocky Mountains, with a highest peak, Mount Logan, reaching 6050 m.a.s.l.
In the east the northern part of the Appalach Mountains
And between these mountains vast plains.
Between the Rocky Mountains and the plains are thousands of lakes.
The flora and fauna of Canada are surprisingly very much like in Europe, but in Canada not so densely populated, many more species have managed to survive the human expansion.
Canada stretches from the North Pole to the USA and accordingly have a cold polar climate in the north.
Average temperature in January between -30 and -35°C and in July + 5°C in the north.
The area from the Rocky Mountains, along the great lakes and eastwards to the Atlantic coast have an average temperature between -5 and -15°C in January and about 20°C in July.
The coastal area by the Pacific Ocean have an average temperature about 0°C in January and +20°C in July.
Percipitation varies much. About 100 mm in the northern polar areas. More than 2000 mm by the Pacific coast, between 800 and 1000 mm by the Atlantic coast and between 250 and 500 in all other areas.
|RPeople:|N 40% British Isles origin, 27% french origin, 20% other European and about 2% aboriginals. Close to 400 000 Indians and about 25 000 Eskimos (Inuits).
Most of the six million French speaking persons in todays Canada are descendants of the 10 000 French colonizers that settled in Quebec and Ontario in the 16th and 17th centuries.
|REconomy:|N Canada is one of the countries on the top-ten list of economical superpowers. 52% of the labour force is occupied in industry and commerce, 28% in services and 4% in agriculture.
About 5% of the land is cultivated and 3% used as pasture. Agriculture is extensive and effective and the most important crops are grain, feedgrain, oilseed and tobacco. Stockraising is also extensive and Canada is a big exporter of food, principally wheat.
35% of the land is forested which is the base for an extensive industry producing timber, pulp and paper och which much is exported.
Canada is the worlds largest exporter of fish and fishing is extensive in both the Pacific and the Atlantic.
Canada is rich on minerals such as oil, natural gas, coal, iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybden, potash, silver and gold and is one of the world's largest producers of gold, iron, nickel and zinc. There are also vast resources of hydroelectric power.
Manufacturing is highly developed and diversified, but concentrated to Ontario, Quebec and British Colombia.
There are iron and steelworks, car assembly plants, airplanefactories, machine- and metalmanufacturing, pulpprocessing and papermanufacturing, extensive foodprocessing, textile- and clothmanufacturing, a huge chemical industry and oilrefineries.
|RHistory:|N It is assumed that the American continents were inhabited fairly late and that the people came from Asia about 20 000 BC via the land connection over the Bering Sound. Most parts of todays Canada was covered by ice at that time, and the first finds of hunters are from 10 000 BC.
These immigrants spread all over North and South America and developed a number of different cultures dependent on the resources where they settled. In Canada the tensions between the aboriginals and the European colonizers not been so strong as in USA.
It is also assumed that the Viking Leif Eriksson from Iceland at about 1000 AD was the first European to reach America. The organized a colony at Newfoundland called Vinland, that was soon abandoned.
The next european visitor in Canada was the British sailor John Cabot in 1497 and the French Jacques Cartier in 1534. The French colonized the eastern part of Canada and in the early 16th century and made it a colony called New France. Quebec was founded 1608 and Montreal in 1642.
The English started to colonize the area around Hudson Bay in northern Canada and soon the interests of France and Great Britain clashed and there were several wars fought between them in the 17th and 18th centuries until British sovereignty over the whole area was recognized in 1763.
From the start the Canadian colonizers had a comparably great freedom to govern themselves and when the states south of Canada revolted against British sovereignty, Canada remained loyal to the crown. Many loyalists from the south fled to Canada.
In 1867 a confederation with fairly lose ties with Great Britain was established, the Dominion of Canada, consisting of Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. In 1869 the Northwestern territories was bought from the Hudson's Bay Company and in 1871 British Colombia joined the federation. Newfoundland joined the federation 1949.
Canada fought on the Allied side in the two World Wars.
In 1931 Canada was proclaimed an independent Dominion within the British Empire and in 1982 the last formal legislative link between Canada and Great Britain was cut when Canada obtained the right to amend its constitution.
Ever since the first settlements in Canada there has been great tension between the English and French settlers. Several wars have been fought between the two groups. Since 1969 French is an official language, but many inhabitants in French-speaking Quebec want to make Quebec an independent country. But in a referendum 1980 a majority of the voters in Quebec voted against proclaiming an independent country.
In the Northwest territory the voters have approved that the Inuits may form a self-ruling homeland. The close to 18 000 Inuits will in 1999 form the Nanavut, Our Land, on an area of close to two million km².
