Country Profile: Canada 

cctv.com 08-31-2005 15:51

Background:

A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada's paramount political problem is meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services after a decade of budget cuts. The issue of reconciling Quebec's francophone heritage with the majority anglophone Canadian population has moved to the back burner in recent years; support for separatism abated after the Quebec government's referendum on independence failed to pass in October of 1995.

Geography

Location:

Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US

Geographic coordinates: 60 00 N, 95 00 W

Area:

total: 9,984,670 sq km

land: 9,093,507 sq km

water: 891,163 sq km

Climate:

varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north

Terrain:

mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast

Elevation extremes:

lowest point: Atlantic Ocean 0 m

highest point: Mount Logan 5,959 m

Natural resources:

iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower

People:

Population: 32,805,041 (July 2005 est.)

Ethnic groups: British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26%

Religions: Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)

Languages: English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5%

Government

Country name:

conventional long form: none

conventional short form: Canada

Government type: confederation with parliamentary democracy

Capital: Ottawa

Administrative divisions:

10 provinces and 3 territories*; Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Northwest Territories*, Nova Scotia, Nunavut*, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan, Yukon Territory*

Independence:

1 July 1867 (union of British North American colonies); 11 December 1931 (independence recognized)

National holiday:

Canada Day, 1 July (1867)

Editor:Chen  Source:CCTV.com