Canada
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For other uses, see Canada (disambiguation).
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Canada
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| Motto: A Mari Usque Ad Mare (Latin) "From Sea to Sea" |
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| Anthem: "O Canada" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"[1][2] |
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| Capital | Ottawa 45°24′N 75°40′W |
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| Largest city | Toronto | |||||
| Official language(s) | English and French | |||||
| Recognised regional languages | Chipewyan, Cree, Gwich'in, Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut, Inuvialuktun, Slavey (North and South) and Tłįchǫ[3] | |||||
| Demonym | Canadian | |||||
| Government | Federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy[4] | |||||
| - | Monarch | Elizabeth II | ||||
| - | Governor General | David Johnston | ||||
| - | Prime Minister | Stephen Harper | ||||
| - | Chief Justice | Beverley McLachlin | ||||
| Legislature | Parliament | |||||
| - | Upper house | Senate | ||||
| - | Lower house | House of Commons | ||||
| Establishment | from the United Kingdom | |||||
| - | Constitution Act, 1867 | July 1, 1867 | ||||
| - | Statute of Westminster | December 11, 1931 | ||||
| - | Canada Act | April 17, 1982 | ||||
| Area | ||||||
| - | Total | 9,984,670 km2 (2nd) 3,854,085 sq mi |
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| - | Water (%) | 8.92 (891,163 km2/344,080 mi2) | ||||
| Population | ||||||
| - | 2012 estimate | 34,910,000[5] (35th) | ||||
| - | 2011 census | 33,476,688[6] | ||||
| - | Density | 3.41/km2 (228th) 8.3/sq mi |
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| GDP (PPP) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1.396 trillion[7] (14th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $40,541[7] (12th) | ||||
| GDP (nominal) | 2011 estimate | |||||
| - | Total | $1.736 trillion (10th) | ||||
| - | Per capita | $50,436[7] (9th) | ||||
| Gini (2005) | 32.1[8] (medium) | |||||
| HDI (2011) |  0.908[9] (very high) (6th) |
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| Currency | Canadian dollar ($) (CAD) |
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| Time zone | (UTC−3.5 to −8) | |||||
| - | Summer (DST) | (UTC−2.5 to −7) | ||||
| Date formats | dd-mm-yyyy, mm-dd-yyyy, and yyyy-mm-dd (CE) | |||||
| Drives on the | Right | |||||
| ISO 3166 code | CA | |||||
| Internet TLD | .ca | |||||
| Calling code | +1 | |||||
i/ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean, and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, and its common border with the United States is the world's longest land border.The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonial expeditions explored, and later settled, the region's Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America to Britain in 1763 after the Seven Years' War. In 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy, culminating in the Canada Act 1982.
Canada is a federal state governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. The country is officially bilingual and multicultural at the federal level, with a population of approximately 33.4 million as of 2011. Canada's advanced economy is one of the world's largest and relies largely upon its natural resources and international trade, particularly with the United States, with which it has had a long and complex relationship. Per capita income is the world's ninth highest, and Canada ranks sixth globally in human development. It performs favorably in international rankings of education, quality of life, government transparency, and economic freedom. Canada is a member of the G7, G8, G20, NATO, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and the United Nations.
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Etymology
Main article: Name of Canada
The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".[10] In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona.[11] Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona); by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.[11]In the 17th and early 18th centuries, "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River and the northern shores of the Great Lakes. The area was later split into two British colonies, Upper Canada and Lower Canada. They were reunified as the Province of Canada in 1841.[12]
Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title.[13] However, as Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply Canada on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982.[14]
History
Main article: History of Canada
Further information: List of years in Canada
Aboriginal peoples
Archaeological studies and genetic analyses have indicated a human presence in the northern Yukon region from 24,500 BC, and in southern Ontario from 7500 BC.[15][16][17] The Paleo-Indian archaeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.[18][19][20] The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.[21][22] Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and have only been discovered through archaeological investigations.[23]The aboriginal population is estimated to have been between 200,000[24] and two million in the late 15th century,[25] with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Health.[26] As a consequence of the European colonization, Canada's aboriginal peoples suffered from repeated outbreaks of newly introduced infectious diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), resulting in a forty- to eighty-percent population decrease in the centuries after the European arrival.[24] Aboriginal peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations,[27] Inuit,[28] and Métis.[29] The Métis are a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers.[30] In general, the Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during the colonization period.[31]
European colonization
In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I.[36] French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603, and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608.[37] Among the French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana. The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.[38]
The English established additional colonies in Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland, beginning in 1610.[39] The Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after.[34] A series of four French and Indian Wars erupted between 1689 and 1763.[40] Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.[41]
The Royal Proclamation of 1763 created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.[14] St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.[42] To avert conflict in Quebec, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley. It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there. This angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the 1775 outbreak of the American Revolution.[14]
The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized American independence and ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States.[43] New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.[44]
The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.[14] The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.[47] The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).[48]
Confederation and expansion
To open the West, the government sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.[54][55] In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon Territory. Under the Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.[53]
Early 20th century
The Great Depression of the early 1930s brought great economic hardship to Canada. In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.[58] Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, three days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.[56]
Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.[56] Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied, and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.[59] The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.[56] Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.[60]
Modern times
At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a modern nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis in 1970,[68] and the sovereignist Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.[69] This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.[70][71] A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of just 50.6 to 49.4 percent. In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.[69]
In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;[72] the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;[73] and the Oka Crisis of 1990,[74] the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Aboriginal groups.[75] Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a US-led coalition force, and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the late 1990s.[76] Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to send forces to Iraq when the US invaded in 2003.[77] In 2009, Canada's economy suffered in the worldwide Great Recession, but has since rebounded modestly.[78] In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan civil war.[79]
Geography
Main article: Geography of Canada
Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean.[80][81] Greenland is to the northeast, while Saint Pierre and Miquelon is south of Newfoundland.
Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude,[82] but this claim is not universally recognized. Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5°N – which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.[83] Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 202,080 kilometres (125,570 mi);[81] additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi).[84]
Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield.[85] Canada has around 31,700 large lakes,[86] more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.[87] There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.[88] The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia. The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.[89]
Canada's population density, at 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5 /sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.[90]
Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.[91] In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).[92]
Government and politics
Main articles: Government of Canada and Politics of Canada
The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in areas of governance is limited.[95][99][100] In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (presently Stephen Harper),[101] the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice.[99] To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons.[102] The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.[99] The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Thomas Mulcair) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.[103]
Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.[100] Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.[106] The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.[107]
Law
Main article: Law of Canada
The Constitution of Canada
is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and
unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act
prior to 1982) affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and
divided powers between the federal and provincial governments; the Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy; and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to the UK, added a constitutional amending formula, and added the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, which guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be overridden by any government – though a notwithstanding clause
allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override
certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.[108]
Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.[114] Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial police forces.[115] However, in most rural areas and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.[116]
Foreign relations and military
Main articles: Foreign relations of Canada and Military history of Canada
Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.[119] Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.[120] Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II.[59]
Canada's strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.[121][122] Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in cooperation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.[123]
Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.[126] Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).[127]
In February 2007, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.[130] In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.[131] In July 2010, the federal government announced the largest purchase in Canadian military history – the acquisition of 65 F-35 Lightning II jet fighters, totalling C$9 billion.[132] Between March and October 2011, Canadian forces participated in a UN-mandated NATO intervention into the 2011 Libyan civil war.[133]
Provinces and territories
Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada
See also: Canadian federalism
Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada
("Eastern Canada" refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada
together). Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having
responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, and welfare.
Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal
government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world.
Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national
policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments
are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform
standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and
poorer provinces.[134]
A clickable map of Canada exhibiting its ten provinces and three territories, and their capitals.
Economy
Main article: Economy of Canada
In the past century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one. Like many other First World nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.[140] However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the logging and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.[141]
Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.[142] Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The immense Athabasca oil sands give Canada the world's second-largest proven oil reserves, after Saudi Arabia.[143] Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.[144] Canada is a major producer of zinc and uranium, and is a leading exporter of many other minerals, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, and lead.[142][145] Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.[146]
The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a major recession, which led to a significant rise in unemployment in Canada.[150] By October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate reached 8.6 percent, with provincial unemployment rates varying from a low of 5.8 percent in Manitoba to a high of 17 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador.[151] Between October 2008 and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs.[152] Canada's federal debt was estimated to total $566.7 billion for the fiscal year 2010–11, up from $463.7 billion in 2008–09.[153] Canada's net foreign debt rose by $41 billion to $194 billion in the first quarter of 2010.[154] However, Canada's regulated banking sector (comparatively conservative among G8 nations), the federal government budgetary surpluses prior to the global financial crisis, and long-term policies of lowering the national debt, resulted in a minimal recession compared to other G8 nations. As of mid-2012, the majority of the Canadian economy has stabilized (though sensitivity to the Eurozone crisis and higher-than-normal unemployment remain).[155][156] The federal government and many Canadian industries have also started to expand trade with Asian markets, in an attempt to diversify exports. Widely debated proposed oil pipelines, in particular, are hoping to increase exports of Canadian oil reserves to China.[157]
Science and technology
Main article: Science and technology in Canada
The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly active space program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research, and developing rockets and satellites. Canada was the third country in space after the USSR and the United States with Alouette 1. In 1984, Marc Garneau became Canada's first astronaut. As of 2012, nine Canadians have flown into space, over the course of fifteen manned missions.[162] Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is a pioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS and NASA. Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospace industry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS and MOST.[163] Canada has also produced a successful and widely used sounding rocket, the Black Brant; over 1,000 Black Brants have been launched since the rocket's introduction in 1961.[164]
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