Canada

Canada

1.      About geographical position of Canada

2.      About population and languages

3.      About main capitals, main cities and territories of Canada

4.      About national symbols and political structure of Canada

5.      Whether Canada might be a good place to live

6.      What places you would like to visit and why

1.About geographical position of Canada

Canada is situated in the northern part of the continent of North America. It does not include Alaska.

Canada has an area of nearly ten million square kilometers. It is the second largest country in area after Russia.

Its land boundaries are along the United States of America in the South and along Alaska (USA) in the North-West.

Its western coast is washed by the Pacific Ocean and its eastern coast is washed by the Atlantic Ocean. In the North it is washed by the Arctic Ocean. And through the Arctic Ocean Canada stretches to the North Pole. This makes Canada the northernmost country in the world.  

There are many islands in the North — the best known is Victoria Island.  

The Rocky Mountains and the Coast Mountains run along the Pacific coast.

The Western Cordillera is famous for the country’s highest mountain,

Mount Logan is 5,951 metres high. It is situated on the territory of Yukon.

The Great Lakes are situated along the boundary between Canada and the USA. They include 5 lakes:

the Huron, the Ontario, the Michigan (this lake is on the territory of the USA), the Erie, the Superior

There are three larger lakes such as: Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake, Lake Winnipeg.

In addition to the lakes Canada has three of 20 world’s largest rivers. The St. Lawrence River, the Mackenzie, and the Yukon.

2.About population and languages

The population of Canada is over 33 million people.

About 28 per cent of its population is of British Isles origin ['PrIdZIn]; about 23 per cent are of French origin. Other European people make 20 per cent. The indigenous [In'dIdZqnqs] population

 is Indian and Inuit ['ɪnjuɪt] (эскимосы), Asian, African and Arab ['xrqb] people.

Since the formation of Canada millions of immigrants from the USA, Scotland, Ireland, England, Germany, Russia, Poland, Scandinavia and other countries have moved to Canada.

In Canada there are 330,000 Indians and 25,000 Eskimos who live mostly in the North.

Canada is the only member of the Commonwealth which has two official languages — English and French.

Today about one fifth of the Canadians speak French and about two thirds speak English.

French Canada still keeps some of its old traditions. In Quebec children and teachers speak French and textbooks are written in French.

There are also 53 native languages. In addition, you can find plenty of Chinese, Italian, German and Portuguese speakers. Even in Quebec, where French is the official language, English is widely spoken.

3.About main capitals, main cities and territories of Canada

Canada is the second largest country. About one-third of population lives in the largest cities Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Ottawa.

Ottawa is the capital of the country and the fourth largest city. The federal government sits there. And it's the center of high-technology research. It is often called 'the Tulip City' because every spring it is full of the thousands of tulips. The city is situated on the" banks of the Ottawa River in the province of Ontario.  

The province of Ontario is the largest in population. It's the heart of Canadian economy - the industrial and agricultural center. It also has most important universities. The capital of the province is Toronto, the largest city in Canada, financial and manufacturing center and one of the most ethnically varied cities of the world. Its local government provides services in 70 languages.

The second largest city is Montreal ["mPntrI'O:l] in the province Quebec. Quebec is the biggest province in size. The majority there speaks French and only 10 percent speak English. Quebec City is the capital of this province and the center of French-speaking part of Canada.              

Other important cities are: Vancouver - the largest port on the Pacific coast, the home of the latest Winter Olympic Games: Calgary - well-known for winter sports and ecotourism; and Winnipeg - 'Gateway to the West'.

4. About national symbols and political structure of Canada

The National Flag of Canada, well-known as "the Maple Leaf", is a red 11-pointed maple leaf in the centre on a white field. On each side there is a broad, vertical red stripe. It was adopted on February 15th, 1965. It is the symbol of Canadian identity. The flag is the symbol of the nation's unity, it represents all the citizens of Canada without distinction of race, language, belief or opinion.

Canada's Coat of Arms

St. Edward's Crown represents Canada's status as a constitutional monarchy headed by a sovereign king or queen.It has three maple leaves below the royal arms of England, Scotland, Ireland and France.

The beaver ['bi:vq] is the official animal symbol of Canada. It also appears on the coins.

Canada is an independent federal parliamentary state. The Queen of Great Britain, Elizabeth II, is the official head of the state, but the Governor General ["gAvqnq'dZenqrql]

(генерал-губернатор) acts as her representative. Canada combines the American federal form of government with the British cabinet system.

As a federation, Canada is made up of ten provinces and two territories.

The provinces are Newfoundland, Nova Scotia ['nqVvq'skqVSq], Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the largest province is Quebec. The trritories are the Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories.

Canadian central government in Ottawa represents all the peoples of Canada. Each province has its own government and the parliament.

The Parliament of Canada consists of two houses, the Upper House called the Senate ['senIt], and the Lower House called the House of Commons. The Senate has less power than the House of Commons.

The Prime minister of Canada is Stephen  Harper.

5.      Say whether Canada might be a good place to live

6.      Say what places you would like to visit and why

                            

 More about Canada

Did you know that Canada is the second largest country in the world?

The only country larger is Russia (unless you’re looking at an American map – sometimes they try to make their country look bigger than Canada!)! The population of Canada is 33 million. That’s a small population for such a large country. Most people – 90% of Canadians – live within 200 km of the American border. Large parts of the country, especially in the north, are uninhabited. The southernmost point in Canada is just south of the northern Californian border! It’s called Point Pelee and it juts out into Lake Erie (one of the five Great Lakes that separate Ontario from the U.S.).

Our national anthem is O Canada!

People think Canada is cold all year round. It is cold – in the winter. In the summer it actually gets quite warm! We can go from 30 degrees Celsius in the summer to -30 degrees Celsius in the winter. We get all four seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. Unfortunately, winter is the longest season – it begins in later November or early December and continues until March, sometimes even April!

The symbol on our flag is the maple leaf (the leaf of the maple tree). The maple leaf has been a symbol of Canada ever since the first Europeans settled here. The maple tree grows all over Canada, and Native Americans learned how to harvest the sap every spring and showed the European settlers how to do it. Have you ever tried maple syrup (the sap from the maple tree)? It is so delicious! I love maple syrup on pancakes, Tim Horton’s maple donuts, and especially maple sugar candies!

Native Americans are the people who lived here before the Europeans arrived. They are native or indigenous to the Americas. Sometimes they are called Indians, Aboriginals, or First Nations people. Most indigenous people in Canada prefer to be called First Nations. They are different from the Inuit (Eskimos) who live in the northern part of the country.

Canadian towns and cities are often named after British places or people (Richmond, Victoria, Newmarket, Stratford, Churchill), European cities (London, Waterloo, Paris – yes, there is a Paris, Canada!) or are Native American words (Petawawa, Kapuskasing, Toronto, Ottawa). We also have some very unique place names: Moose Jaw, Yellowknife, Snowball, Medicine Hat, Red Deer, and Whitehorse, to name a few! There used to be a city called Berlin, but its name was changed to Kitchener after the First World War.

Most people think Toronto is the capital city of Canada, but the capital is actually Ottawa! It is named after the Odawa people who were Algonquian Indians and lived in the area. It is said to mean ‘traders.’

Canada is also a native word – it was the Huron-Iroquois (a native tribe) word for village or settlement. This was the subject of a “Heritage Moments” commercial that was on TV a few years ago. It shows the French explorer Jacques Cartier meeting the natives in 1534:

We have two national sports – lacrosse and hockey! Lacrosse was once a popular sport played by Native Americans (though it had a deeply spiritual significance). However, hockey is by far the most popular sport in the country. Since1859, lacrosse had been our official national sport – but the government changed that in 1994, declaring hockey as our national winter sport and lacrosse our national summer sport!

There are 10 provinces (like a state) and 3 territories. Provinces each have their own independent governments; the territories used to be administered directly by the Canadian government, but they are now becoming much more independent. The 3 territories – Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut – are in the northern part of the country. They cover 40% of the entire country, but have only 3% of the total population of Canada.

The easternmost provinces – New Brunswick, Newfoundland & Labrador, Nova Scotia, and P.E.I. (Prince Edward Island) – are called The Maritimes. The provinces in the middle and in the west – Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta – are called The Prairies.

We don’t really have any national cuisine – we’ll eat anything! Canadians love food from around the world – Italian, Chinese, Japanese, Indian – and we love to drink beer! If you come to Canada you must try: Tim Horton’s coffee, a beaver tail (no, not an actual beaver tail; it’s a dessert!) and poutine (a concoction that originated in Quebec and consists of french fries, gravy and cheese curds!).

There is truly no other country like Canada in the world!

(the above map is from the Natural Resources Canada website)