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- 9,976,140 km²; land area: 9,220,970 km²
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- Comparative area: slightly larger than US
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- Land boundaries: 8,893 km with US (includes 2,477 km with Alaska)
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- Coastline: 243,791 km
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- Maritime claims:
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- Continental shelf: 200 meters or to depth of exploitation;
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- Exclusive fishing zone: 200 nm;
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- Territorial sea: 12 nm
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- Disputes: maritime boundary disputes with France (St. Pierre and Miquelon)
- and US
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- Climate: varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north
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- Terrain: mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast
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- Natural resources: nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash,
- silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, crude oil, natural gas
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- Land use: 5% arable land; NEGL% permanent crops; 3% meadows and pastures;
- 35% forest and woodland; 57% other; includes NEGL% irrigated
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- Environment: 80% of population concentrated within 160 km of US border;
- continuous permafrost in north a serious obstacle to development
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- Note: second-largest country in world (after USSR); strategic
- location between USSR and US via north polar route
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- █ ≡ People ≡ █
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- Population: 26,538,229 (July 1990), growth rate 1.1% (1990)
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- Birth rate: 14 births/1,000 population (1990)
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- Death rate: 7 deaths/1,000 population (1990)
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- Net migration rate: 5 migrants/1,000 population (1990)
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- Infant mortality rate: 7 deaths/1,000 live births (1990)
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- Life expectancy at birth: 74 years male, 81 years female (1990)
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- Total fertility rate: 1.7 children born/woman (1990)
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- Nationality: noun--Canadian(s); adjective--Canadian
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- Ethnic divisions: 40% British Isles origin, 27% French origin, 20% other
- European, 1.5% indigenous Indian and Eskimo
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- Religion: 46% Roman Catholic, 16% United Church, 10% Anglican
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- Language: English and French (both official)
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- Literacy: 99%
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- Labor force: 13,380,000; services 75%, manufacturing 14%, agriculture 4%,
- construction 3%, other 4% (1988)
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- Organized labor: 30.6% of labor force; 39.6% of nonagricultural paid
- workers
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- █ ≡ Government ≡ █
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- Long-form name: none
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- Type: confederation with parliamentary democracy
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- Capital: Ottawa
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- Administrative divisions: 10 provinces and 2 territories*; Alberta,
- British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland,
- Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island,
- Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory*
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- Independence: 1 July 1867 (from UK)
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- Constitution: amended British North America Act 1867 patriated to
- Canada 17 April 1982; charter of rights and unwritten customs
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- Legal system: based on English common law, except in Quebec, where civil
- law system based on French law prevails; accepts compulsory ICJ
- jurisdiction, with reservations
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- National holiday: Canada Day, 1 July (1867)
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- Executive branch: British monarch, governor general, prime minister,
- deputy prime minister, Cabinet
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- Legislative branch: bicameral Parliament consists of an upper house
- or Senate and a lower house or House of Commons
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- Judicial branch: Supreme Court
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- Leaders:
- Chief of State--Queen ELIZABETH II (since 6 February 1952), represented
- by Governor General Raymond John HNATSHYN (since 29 January
- 1990);
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- Head of Government--Prime Minister (Martin) Brian MULRONEY (since
- 4 September 1984); Deputy Prime Minister Donald Frank MAZANKOWSKI (since
- NA June 1986)
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- Political parties and leaders: Progressive Conservative, Brian Mulroney;
- Liberal, John Turner; New Democratic, Audrey McLaughlin
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- Suffrage: universal at age 18
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- Elections:
- House of Commons--last held 21 November 1988 (next to be
- held by November 1993);
- results--Progressive Conservative 43.0%, Liberal 32%,
- New Democratic Party 20%, other 5%;
- seats--(295 total) Progressive Conservative 170, Liberal 82, New
- Democratic Party 43
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- Communists: 3,000
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- Member of: ADB, CCC, Colombo Plan, Commonwealth, DAC, FAO, GATT, IAEA,
- IBRD, ICAO, ICES, ICO, IDA, IDB--Inter-American Development Bank, IEA,
- IFAD, IFC, IHO, ILO, ILZSG, IMF, IMO, INTELSAT, INTERPOL, IPU, ISO, ITC,
- ITU, IWC--International Whaling Commission, IWC--International Wheat
- Council, NATO, OAS, OECD, PAHO, UN, UNCTAD, UNESCO, UPU, WHO, WIPO, WMO,
- WSG
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- Diplomatic representation: Ambassador Derek BURNEY; Chancery at
- 1746 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington DC 20036; telephone (202) 785-1400;
- there are Canadian Consulates General in Atlanta, Boston, Buffalo, Chicago,
- Cleveland, Dallas, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis, New York,
- Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Seattle; US--Ambassador Edward N. NEY;
- Embassy at 100 Wellington Street, K1P 5T1, Ottawa (mailing address is P. O.
- Box 5000, Ogdensburg, NY 13669); telephone (613) 238-5335; there are US
- Consulates General in Calgary, Halifax Montreal, Quebec, Toronto, and
- Vancouver
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- Flag: three vertical bands of red (hoist side), white (double width,
- square), and red with a red maple leaf centered in the white band
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- █ ≡ Economy ≡ █
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- Overview: As an affluent, high-tech industrial society, Canada
- today closely resembles the US in per capita output, market-oriented
- economic system, and pattern of production. Since World War II the
- impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has
- transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily
- industrial and urban. In the 1980s Canada registered one of the highest
- rates of growth among the OECD nations, averaging about 4%. With its
- great natural resources, skilled labor force, and modern capital plant,
- Canada has excellent economic prospects. In mid-1990, however, the
- long-simmering problems between English- and French-speaking areas
- became so acute that observers spoke openly of a possible split in the
- confederation; foreign investors were becoming edgy.
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- GDP: $513.6 billion, per capita $19,600; real growth rate
- 2.9% (1989 est.)
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- Inflation rate (consumer prices): 5.0% (1989)
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- Unemployment rate: 7.5% (1989)
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- Budget: revenues $79.2 billion; expenditures $102.0 billion,
- including capital expenditures of $1.8 billion (FY88 est.)
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- Exports: $127.2 billion (f.o.b., 1989);
- commodities--newsprint, wood pulp, timber, grain, crude petroleum,
- natural gas, ferrous and nonferrous ores, motor vehicles;
- partners--US, Japan, UK, FRG, other EC, USSR
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- Imports: $116.5 billion (c.i.f., 1989);
- commodities--processed foods, beverages, crude petroleum, chemicals,
- industrial machinery, motor vehicles, durable consumer goods, electronic
- computers;
- partners--US, Japan, UK, FRG, other EC, Taiwan, South Korea, Mexico
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- External debt: $247 billion (1987)
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- Industrial production: growth rate 2.3% (1989)
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- Electricity: 103,746,000 kW capacity; 472,580 million kWh produced,
- 17,960 kWh per capita (1989)
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- Industries: processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and
- paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish products,
- petroleum and natural gas
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- Agriculture: accounts for 3% of GDP; one of the world's major producers
- and exporters of grain (wheat and barley); key source of US agricultural
- imports; large forest resources cover 35% of total land area; commercial
- fisheries provide annual catch of 1.5 million metric tons, of which 75% is
- exported
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- Illicit drugs: illicit producer of cannabis for the domestic
- drug market
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- Aid: donor--ODA and OOF commitments (1970-87), $2.2 billion
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- Currency: Canadian dollar (plural--dollars); 1 Canadian dollar
- (Can$) = 100 cents
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- Exchange rates: Canadian dollars (Can$) per US$1--1.1714 (January
- 1990), 1.1840 (1989), 1.2307 (1988), 1.3260 (1987), 1.3895 (1986),
- 1.3655 (1985)
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- Fiscal year: 1 April-31 March
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- █ ≡ Communications ≡ █
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- Railroads: 80,095 km total; 79,917 km 1.435-meter standard gauge
- (includes 129 km electrified); 178 km 0.915-meter narrow gauge (mostly
- unused); two major transcontinental freight railway systems--Canadian
- National (government owned) and Canadian Pacific Railway; passenger service
- --VIA (government operated)
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- Highways: 884,272 km total; 712,936 km surfaced (250,023 km paved),
- 171,336 km earth
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- Inland waterways: 3,000 km, including St. Lawrence Seaway
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- Pipelines: oil, 23,564 km total crude and refined; natural gas, 74,980 km
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- Ports: Halifax, Montreal, Quebec, Saint John (New Brunswick),
- St. John's (Newfoundland), Toronto, Vancouver
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- Merchant marine: 78 ships (1,000 GRT or over) totaling 555,749 GRT/774,914
- DWT; includes 1 passenger, 5 short-sea passenger, 2 passenger-cargo, 12
- cargo 2 railcar carrier, 1 refrigerated cargo, 8 roll-on/roll-off, 1
- container, 29 petroleum, oils, and lubricants (POL) tanker, 6 chemical
- tanker, 1 specialized tanker, 10 bulk; note--does not include ships used
- exclusively in the Great Lakes
- ships
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- Civil air: 636 major transport aircraft; Air Canada is the major carrier
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- Airports: 1,359 total, 1,117 usable; 442 with permanent-surface runways;
- 4 with runways over 3,659 m; 30 with runways 2,440-3,659 m; 322 with runways
- 1,220-2,439 m
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- Telecommunications: excellent service provided by modern media; 18.0
- million telephones; stations--900 AM, 29 FM, 53 (1,400 repeaters) TV; 5
- coaxial submarine cables; over 300 satellite earth stations operating in
- INTELSAT (including 4 Atlantic Ocean and 1 Pacific Ocean) and domestic
- systems
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- █ ≡ Defense Forces ≡ █
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- Branches: Mobile Command, Maritime Command, Air Command, Communications
- Command, Canadian Forces Europe, Training Commands
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- Military manpower: males 15-49, 7,174,119; 6,251,492 fit for military
- service; 187,894 reach military age (17) annually
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- Defense expenditures: 2.0% of GDP, or $10 billion (1989 est.)