Canada |
|||
|---|---|---|---|
|
|||
|
Anthem O Canada Royal anthem God Save the Queen |
|||
|
|||
| Capital |
Ottawa |
||
| Largest city | Toronto | ||
| Official languages | English, French | ||
| Demonym | Canadian | ||
| Government | Parliamentary democracy (federal constitutional monarchy) | ||
| - | Monarch | Queen Elizabeth II | |
| - | Governor General | Michaëlle Jean | |
| - | Prime Minister | Stephen Harper | |
| Establishment | |||
| - | British North America Act | 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 |
|
| - | Water (%) | 8.92 (891,163 km²) | |
| Population | |||
| - | 2007 estimate | 32,978,400 (36th) | |
| - | 2006 census | 31,612,897 | |
| - | Density |
3.2 /km² (219th) 8.3 /sq mi |
|
| GDP (PPP) | 2006 estimate | ||
| - | Total | $1.165 trillion (11th) | |
| - | Per capita | $35,200 (7th) | |
| GDP (nominal) | 2006 estimate | ||
| - | Total | $1.089 trillion (8th) | |
| - | Per capita | $32,614 (16th) | |
| HDI (2006) |
0.950 (high) (6th) |
||
| Currency |
Canadian dollar ($) (CAD) |
||
| Time zone | (UTC-3.5 to -8) | ||
| - | Summer (DST) | (UTC-2.5 to -7) | |
| Internet TLD | .ca | ||
| Calling code | +1 | ||
| Canada portal | |||
Canada (IPA: /kæn.ə.də/) is the second largest country in the world by total area. Occupying most of northern North America, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.
The lands have been inhabited for millennia by 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, Canada was formed through an act of union of three British North American colonies. A gradual process of independence from the United Kingdom culminated in the Canada Act 1982, severing the last vestiges of dependence on the British parliament.
Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. A federation comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, 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 had a long and complex relationship.