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Overview of and topical guide to Canada From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Canada:
Canada (/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 in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean.[1] It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest, and marine borders with France and Greenland on the east and northeast, respectively.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by various groups of aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French expeditions explored and later settled the Atlantic coast. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America 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.[2][3][4] This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.
Canada is a federation that is governed as a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with King Charles III as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, Canada maintains a diversified economy that is heavily reliant upon its abundant natural resources and upon trade—particularly with the United States, with which Canada has a long and complex relationship.
Provinces and territories of Canada
Province, with flag | Postal abbreviation/ ISO code |
Other abbreviations | Capital | Entered Confederation | Population (2016)[8] |
Area (km2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land | Water | Total | ||||||
Ontario1 | ON | Ont. | Toronto | July 1, 1867 | 13,448,494 | 917,741 | 158,654 | 1,076,395 |
Quebec1 | QC | Que., PQ, P.Q. | Quebec City | 8,164,361 | 1,356,128 | 185,928 | 1,542,056 | |
Nova Scotia2 | NS | N.S. | Halifax | 923,598 | 53,338 | 1,946 | 55,284 | |
New Brunswick2 | NB | N.B. | Fredericton | 747,101 | 71,450 | 1,458 | 72,908 | |
Manitoba3 | MB | Man. | Winnipeg | July 15, 1870 | 1,278,365 | 553,556 | 94,241 | 647,797 |
British Columbia2 | BC | B.C. | Victoria | July 20, 1871 | 4,648,055 | 925,186 | 19,549 | 944,735 |
Prince Edward Island2 | PE | PEI, P.E.I., P.E. Island | Charlottetown | July 1, 1873 | 142,907 | 5,660 | — | 5,660 |
Saskatchewan4 | SK | Sask., SK, SKWN | Regina | September 1, 1905 | 1,098,352 | 591,670 | 59,366 | 651,036 |
Alberta4 | AB | Alta. | Edmonton | 4,067,175 | 642,317 | 19,531 | 661,848 | |
Newfoundland and Labrador5 | NL | Nfld., NF, LB | St. John's | March 31, 1949 | 519,716 | 373,872 | 31,340 | 405,212 |
Notes:
There are currently three territories in Canada. Unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent jurisdiction and only have those powers delegated to them by the federal government.
Territory, with flag | Postal abbreviation/ ISO code |
Other abbreviations | Capital | Entered Confederation | Population (2007)[8] |
Area (km2) | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Land | Water | Total | ||||||
Northwest Territories | NT | N.W.T., NWT | Yellowknife | July 15, 1870 | 41,786 | 1,183,085 | 163,021 | 1,346,106 |
Yukon | YT | Y.T., YK | Whitehorse | June 13, 1898 | 35,874 | 474,391 | 8,052 | 482,443 |
Nunavut | NU | NV | Iqaluit | April 1, 1999 | 35,944 | 1,936,113 | 157,077 | 2,093,190 |
Note: Canada did not acquire any new land to create Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Nunavut. All of these originally formed part of Northwest Territories.
Canada is a member of:[1]
Sport in Canada Official Sports
Other sports
Hall of Fame Museums
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