Canada

Geography
Canada is a country occupying the Northern part of the North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the East to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country after Russia by total area( = including water area), and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.

It is divided into ten provinces and three territories: Newfoundland, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia, the Northwest Territories, Nunavut  and the Yukon Territory.
The largest province is Quebec. The capital city is Ottawa it´s in the province of Ontario. But the biggest town is Montreal.
Canada is famous for its varied and beautiful countryside, especially near the Great Lake in the south-east and the Slave and Bear Lakes in the north-west. Visitors of Canada usually want to see Niagara Falls that are between the Lake Ontario and the Lake Erie. The Canadian part is called the Horseshoe Fall and is 49 m high and almost 1 km wide. Canada also has high mountain areas, such as the Rocky Mountains and the Mackenzie Mountains, the highest mountain is Mt.Logan, it has 6000m.
The longest river is Mackenzie flowing from Rocky Mountains to the Arctic Ocean.
There are about thirty national parks in Canada; the most known is Jasper National Park in Alberta. Thousands of tourists visit Canada’s national parks all year round. In those parks people can admire the scenery or they can walk, climb, go sightseeing, fishing or skiing there.

Climate
The climate varies from Arctic climate in the cold wild tundra with winter temperatures as low as minus 50 C to moderate climate in the east and west with the grate beautiful forests. The central plains form the prairie which has favourable climate to farming.

Political system
Canada is a constitutional monarchy, a federal state and parliament democracy with two official languages - French and English.
Canada became a British dominion in 1867. Now it is an independent federal state and a member of the British Commonwealth. Since 1965 it has had its own national flag: the flag is red and in the centre there is a white square including a red maple leaf. The national anthem is called Oh, Canada.
The head of the state is the British monarch represented by the governor-general, usually appointed for a 5-year term by the Canadian cabinet. The leading figure in the political life of the country is the Prime Minister.

Important events in history
The name Canada comes from the original inhabitants. Indians used word ‘kanata’ which means ‘village’.
The original inhabitants came to Canada some 20 000 years ago from the Asia across the nowadays Bering Strait.
The first Europeans there were Vikings who discovered Newfoundland more than a thousand years ago. During the Age of Discoveries (15th and 16th century) some navigators landed on the Canadian coast. First it was an Italian (sailing for England) Giovanni Caboto in 1497. The first real exploration took place after 1534 when French Jacques Cartier discovered the Gulf of St.Lawrence (like a colony New France). Since the 16th century large territories were occupied by the French but France lost this country in frequent wars  with England during the 17th, 18th and 19th century. When the USA was founded in 1776 Canada remained British colony. It became a British dominion in 1867.
 
Economy
Canadian economy is traditionally based on natural resources and agriculture. Canada is the world’s second largest exporter of wheat that is mainly planted on the prairies in the interior of the country.

In Canada there can be found almost all ores and energy raw materials. In 1896 in the Yukon Territory gold was discovered and this accident started a golden rush all over the world. People from all countries travelled to Yukon to wash out gold.
Canada’s largest source is in minerals. It is first in the exploitation of nickel, zinc and uranium, but there is also cadmium, lead, gas and platinum, too. It is also an important producer of gold, silver and aluminium. The exploitation of iron ore, oil and coal is less important.
Canadian main trading partner is USA.

Places of interests
Canada’s capital is Ottawa located in the province of Ontario. Ottawa is “only” the capital of Canada, but it is not the capital of Ontario. That role is played by Toronto, where the world’s tallest structure, Canadian Tower, was built. The largest city in Canada is Montreal and it is also the second largest French-speaking city in the world.
The capitals of a majority of provinces are known as competitors of the National Hockey League (NHL) - Edmonton, Montreal, Toronto and Calgary, which is also famous as the organiser of the winter Olympic Games in 1988.
Toronto is a city of many nationalities. The largest group are the Italians, who create 8% of Toronto’s population. Toronto lies on the coast of Lake Ontario, so it can easily transport anything from and to industrial centres in USA such as Detroit. There are many interesting buildings, not only the Canadian Tower. The new Toronto City Hall is a very interesting building, which is using modern architectonic technologies.
Montreal is situated on an island in the St. Lawrence River. It is one of the oldest cities in Canada, because its history started in 1667. Today, Montreal is one of the largest ports in the world. It is a centre of international events in Canada (1976 Summer Olympic Games). In Montreal there are the most important French-speaking universities in Canada.
Vancouver is the largest city on the west coast of the Pacific Ocean. It is a modern city. All buildings are younger than 100 years, because old wooden Vancouver was burned down in 1886. It is an important transport crossing. There is a harbour and many highways and railroads.