1.
Canada
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Canada is a country in the northern half of North America. Canadas border with the United States is the worlds longest binational land border, the majority of the country has a cold or severely cold winter climate, but southerly areas are warm in summer. Canada is sparsely populated, the majority of its territory being dominated by forest and tundra. It is highly urbanized with 82 per cent of the 35.15 million people concentrated in large and medium-sized cities, One third of the population lives in the three largest cities, Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Its capital is Ottawa, and other urban areas include Calgary, Edmonton, Quebec City, Winnipeg. Various aboriginal peoples had inhabited what is now Canada for thousands of years prior to European colonization. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1,1867, the colonies of Canada, New Brunswick and this began an accretion of provinces and territories to the mostly self-governing Dominion to the present ten provinces and three territories forming modern Canada. With the Constitution Act 1982, Canada took over authority, removing the last remaining ties of legal dependence on the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, with Queen Elizabeth II being the head of state. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level and it is one of the worlds most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many other countries. Its advanced economy is the eleventh largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources, Canadas long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture. Canada is a country and has the tenth highest nominal per capita income globally as well as the ninth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, Canada is an influential nation in the world, primarily due to its inclusive values, years of prosperity and stability, stable economy, and efficient military. While a variety of theories have been postulated for the origins of Canada. 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, from the 16th to the early 18th century Canada referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River. In 1791, the area became two British colonies called Upper Canada and Lower Canada collectively named The Canadas, until their union as the British Province of Canada in 1841. Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the name for the new country at the London Conference. The transition away from the use of Dominion was formally reflected in 1982 with the passage of the Canada Act, later that year, the name of national holiday was changed from Dominion Day to Canada Day
2.
New Brunswick
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New Brunswick is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces and is the only constitutionally bilingual province. In the Canada 2016 Census, Statistics Canada estimated the population to have been 747,101, down very slightly from 751,171 in 2011. The majority of the population is English-speaking of Anglo and Celtic heritage and it was created as a result of the partitioning of the British colony of Nova Scotia in 1784 and was originally named New Ireland with the capital to be in Saint John. The name was replaced with New Brunswick by King George II. The provincial flag features a ship superimposed on a background with a yellow lion passant guardant on red pennon above it. The province is named for the city of Braunschweig, known in English and Low German as Brunswick, located in modern-day Lower Saxony in northern Germany. The then-colony was named in 1784 to honour the reigning British monarch, George III, the original First Nations inhabitants of New Brunswick were members of three distinct tribes. The largest tribe was the Mikmaq, and they occupied the eastern and they were responsible for the Augustine Mound, a burial ground built about 800 BCE near Metepnákiaq. The western portion of the province was the home of the Wolastoqiyik people. The smaller Passamaquoddy tribe occupied lands in the southwest of the province. The next French contact was in 1604, when a party led by Pierre du Gua de Monts and Samuel de Champlain set up camp for the winter on St. Croix Island, the colony relocated the following year across the Bay of Fundy to Port Royal, Nova Scotia. The whole maritime region was at that time claimed by France and was designated as the colony of Acadia, one of the provisions of the Treaty of Utrecht of 1713 was the surrender of Acadia to Queen Anne. The bulk of the Acadian population thus found themselves residing in the new British colony of Nova Scotia, the remainder of Acadia was only lightly populated and poorly defended. The Maliseet from their headquarters at Meductic on the Saint John River, participated in guerilla raids and battles against New England during Father Rales War. About 1750, to protect his interests in New France, Louis XV caused three forts to be built along the Isthmus of Chignecto and this caused what is known to historians as Father Le Loutres War. During the French and Indian War, the British completed their displacement of the Acadians over all of present-day New Brunswick, Fort Beauséjour, Fort Menagoueche and Fort Gaspareaux were captured by a British force commanded by Lt. Col. Robert Monckton in 1755. Inside Fort Beauséjour, the British forces found not only French regular troops, Governor Charles Lawrence of Nova Scotia used the discovery of Acadian civilians helping in the defence of the fort to order the expulsion of the Acadian population from Nova Scotia. The Acadians of the recently captured Beaubassin and Petitcodiac regions were included in the expulsion order, other actions in the war included British expeditions up the Saint John River in the St. John River Campaign
3.
Newfoundland and Labrador
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Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province of Canada. Situated in the countrys Atlantic region, it comprises the island of Newfoundland and mainland Labrador to the northwest, in 2013, the provinces population was estimated at 526,702. About 92% of the population lives on the island of Newfoundland. The province is Canadas most linguistically homogeneous, with 97. 6% of residents reporting English as their mother tongue in the 2006 census, historically, Newfoundland was also home to unique varieties of French and Irish, as well as the extinct Beothuk language. In Labrador, local dialects of Innu-aimun and Inuktitut are also spoken, Newfoundland and Labradors capital and largest city, St. Johns, is Canadas 20th-largest census metropolitan area and is home to almost 40 percent of the provinces population. St. Johns is the seat of government, home to the House of Assembly of Newfoundland and Labrador and to the highest court in the jurisdiction and it became the tenth province to enter the Canadian Confederation on March 31,1949, as Newfoundland. On December 6,2001, an amendment was made to the Constitution of Canada to change the official name to Newfoundland. The name Newfoundland is a translation of the Portuguese Terra Nova, the influence of early Portuguese exploration is also reflected in the name of Labrador, which derives from the surname of the Portuguese navigator João Fernandes Lavrador. Newfoundland and Labrador is the most easterly province in Canada, and is located at the corner of North America. The Strait of Belle Isle separates the province into two divisions, Labrador, which is a large area of mainland Canada, and Newfoundland. The province also includes over 7,000 tiny islands, each side is about 400 km long, and its area is 108,860 km2. Newfoundland and its small islands have a total area of 111,390 km2. Newfoundland extends between latitudes 46°36′N and 51°38′N, Labrador is an irregular shape, the western part of its border with Quebec is the drainage divide of the Labrador Peninsula. Lands drained by rivers that flow into the Atlantic Ocean are part of Labrador, most of Labradors southern boundary with Quebec follows the 52nd parallel of latitude. Labradors extreme northern tip, at 60°22′N, shares a border with Nunavut. Together, Newfoundland and Labrador make up 4. 06% of Canadas area, Labrador is the easternmost part of the Canadian Shield, a vast area of ancient metamorphic rock comprising much of northeastern North America. Colliding tectonic plates have shaped much of the geology of Newfoundland, gros Morne National Park has a reputation as an outstanding example of tectonics at work, and as such has been designated a World Heritage Site. The Long Range Mountains on Newfoundlands west coast are the northeasternmost extension of the Appalachian Mountains, the north-south extent of the province, prevalent westerly winds, cold ocean currents and local factors such as mountains and coastline combine to create the various climates of the province
4.
Nova Scotia
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Nova Scotia is one of Canadas three Maritime provinces, and one of the four provinces which form Atlantic Canada. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province, with an area of 55,284 square kilometres, including Cape Breton, as of 2016, the population was 923,598. Nova Scotia is the second most-densely populated province in Canada with 17.4 inhabitants per square kilometre, Nova Scotia means New Scotland in Latin and is the recognized English language name for the province. In Scottish Gaelic, the province is called Alba Nuadh, which simply means New Scotland. Nova Scotia is Canadas second-smallest province in area after Prince Edward Island, the provinces mainland is the Nova Scotia peninsula surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, including numerous bays and estuaries. Nowhere in Nova Scotia is more than 67 km from the ocean, Nova Scotia has many ancient fossil-bearing rock formations. These formations are rich on the Bay of Fundys shores. Blue Beach near Hantsport, Joggins Fossil Cliffs, on the Bay of Fundys shores, has yielded an abundance of Carboniferous age fossils, wassons Bluff, near the town of Parrsboro, has yielded both Triassic and Jurassic age fossils. Nova Scotia lies in the mid-temperate zone, since the province is almost surrounded by the sea, the climate is closer to maritime than to continental climate. The winter and summer temperature extremes of the climate are moderated by the ocean. However, winters are cold enough to be classified as continental – still being nearer the freezing point than inland areas to the west. The Nova Scotia climate is in ways similar to the central Baltic Sea coast in Northern Europe. This is in spite of Nova Scotia being some fifteen parallels south, areas not on the Atlantic coast experience warmer summers more typical of inland areas, and winter lows a little colder. The province includes regions of the Mikmaq nation of Mikmaki, the Mikmaq people inhabited Nova Scotia at the time the first European colonists arrived. In 1605, French colonists established the first permanent European settlement in the future Canada at Port Royal, the British conquest of Acadia took place in 1710. The Treaty of Utrecht in 1713 formally recognized this and returned Cape Breton Island to the French, present-day New Brunswick then still formed a part of the French colony of Acadia. The British changed the name of the capital from Port Royal to Annapolis Royal, in 1749, the capital of Nova Scotia moved from Annapolis Royal to the newly established Halifax. In 1755 the vast majority of the French population were removed in the Expulsion of the Acadians
5.
Prince Edward Island
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Prince Edward Island is a province of Canada consisting of the island of the same name, as well as several much smaller islands. It is one of the three Maritime Provinces and is the smallest province in land area and population. It is the only jurisdiction of North America outside the Caribbean to have no mainland territory. The backbone of the economy is farming, it produces 25% of Canadas potatoes, historically, PEI is one of Canadas older settlements and demographically still reflects older immigration to the country, with Celtic, Anglo-Saxon and French surnames being dominant to this day. According to the 2011 census, the province of Prince Edward Island has 140,204 residents and it is located about 200 kilometres north of Halifax, Nova Scotia and 600 kilometres east of Quebec City. It consists of the island and 231 minor islands. Altogether, the province has a land area of 5,685.73 km2. The main island is 5,620 km2 in size, slightly larger than the U. S. state of Delaware and it is the 104th-largest island in the world and Canadas 23rd-largest island. The island is named for Prince Edward, Duke of Kent and Strathearn, the son of King George III. Prince Edward has been called Father of the Canadian Crown, Prince Edward Island is located in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, west of Cape Breton Island, north of the Nova Scotia peninsula, and east of New Brunswick. Its southern shore bounds the Northumberland Strait, the island has two urban areas. A much smaller urban area surrounds Summerside Harbour, situated on the southern shore 40 km west of Charlottetown Harbour, as with all natural harbours on the island, Charlottetown and Summerside harbours are created by rias. Rolling hills, woods, reddish white sand beaches, ocean coves, under the Planning Act of the province, municipalities have the option to assume responsibility for land-use planning through the development and adoption of official plans and land use bylaws. Thirty-one municipalities have taken responsibility for planning, in areas where municipalities have not assumed responsibility for planning, the Province remains responsible for development control. The islands lush landscape has a bearing on its economy. The author Lucy Maud Montgomery drew inspiration from the land during the late Victorian Era for the setting of her classic novel Anne of Green Gables, today, many of the same qualities that Montgomery and others found in the island are enjoyed by tourists who visit year-round. The smaller, rural communities as well as the towns and villages throughout the province, retain a slower-paced, Prince Edward Island has become popular as a tourist destination for relaxation. The economy of most rural communities on the island is based on small-scale agriculture, industrial farming has increased as businesses buy and consolidate older farm properties
6.
Provinces and territories of Canada
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Canadas geography is divided into administrative divisions known as provinces and territories that are responsible for delivery of sub-national governance. Over its history, Canadas international borders have changed several times, the ten provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. Several of the provinces were former British colonies, Quebec was originally a French colony, the three territories are Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon, which govern the rest of the area of the former British North America. Together, the provinces and territories make up the worlds second-largest country by area, the powers flowing from the Constitution Act are divided between the federal government and the provincial governments to exercise exclusively. In modern Canadian constitutional theory, the provinces are considered to be co-sovereign divisions, the territories are not sovereign, but simply part of the federal realm, and have a commissioner who represents the federal government. Notes, There are three territories in Canada, unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent sovereignty and have only those powers delegated to them by the federal government. They include all of mainland Canada north of latitude 60° north and west of Hudson Bay, the following table lists the territories in order of precedence. Prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were united as the Province of Canada, over the following years, Manitoba, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were added as provinces. The Hudsons Bay Company controlled large swathes of western Canada referred to as Ruperts Land and the North-Western Territory until 1870, subsequently, the area was re-organized into the province of Manitoba and the Northwest Territories. The remaining Arctic islands were transferred by Britain to Canada in 1880,1898 saw the Yukon Territory, later renamed simply as Yukon, carved from the parts of the Northwest Territories surrounding the Klondike gold fields. On September 1,1905, a portion of the Northwest Territories south of the 60th parallel north became the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan. In 1912, the boundaries of Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba were expanded northward, Manitobas to the 60° parallel, Ontarios to Hudson Bay, in 1907, Newfoundland acquired dominion status. In the middle of the Great Depression in Canada with Newfoundland facing a period of economic crisis. In 2001, it was officially renamed Newfoundland and Labrador, in 1903, the Alaska Panhandle Dispute fixed British Columbias northwestern boundary. This was one of two provinces in Canadian history to have its size reduced. In 1999, Nunavut was created from the portion of the Northwest Territories. Yukon lies in the portion of The North, while Nunavut is in the east. All three territories combined are the most sparsely populated region in Canada, covering 3,921,739 km2 in land area and they are often referred to as a single region, The North, for organisational and economic purposes
7.
Atlantic Ocean
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The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the worlds oceans with a total area of about 106,460,000 square kilometres. It covers approximately 20 percent of the Earths surface and about 29 percent of its surface area. It separates the Old World from the New World, the Atlantic Ocean occupies an elongated, S-shaped basin extending longitudinally between Eurasia and Africa to the east, and the Americas to the west. The Equatorial Counter Current subdivides it into the North Atlantic Ocean, in contrast, the term Atlantic originally referred specifically to the Atlas Mountains in Morocco and the sea off the Strait of Gibraltar and the North African coast. The Greek word thalassa has been reused by scientists for the huge Panthalassa ocean that surrounded the supercontinent Pangaea hundreds of years ago. The term Aethiopian Ocean, derived from Ancient Ethiopia, was applied to the Southern Atlantic as late as the mid-19th century, many Irish or British people refer to the United States and Canada as across the pond, and vice versa. The Black Atlantic refers to the role of ocean in shaping black peoples history. Irish migration to the US is meant when the term The Green Atlantic is used, the term Red Atlantic has been used in reference to the Marxian concept of an Atlantic working class, as well as to the Atlantic experience of indigenous Americans. Correspondingly, the extent and number of oceans and seas varies, the Atlantic Ocean is bounded on the west by North and South America. It connects to the Arctic Ocean through the Denmark Strait, Greenland Sea, Norwegian Sea, to the east, the boundaries of the ocean proper are Europe, the Strait of Gibraltar and Africa. In the southeast, the Atlantic merges into the Indian Ocean, the 20° East meridian, running south from Cape Agulhas to Antarctica defines its border. In the 1953 definition it extends south to Antarctica, while in later maps it is bounded at the 60° parallel by the Southern Ocean, the Atlantic has irregular coasts indented by numerous bays, gulfs, and seas. Including these marginal seas the coast line of the Atlantic measures 111,866 km compared to 135,663 km for the Pacific. Including its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers an area of 106,460,000 km2 or 23. 5% of the ocean and has a volume of 310,410,900 km3 or 23. 3%. Excluding its marginal seas, the Atlantic covers 81,760,000 km2 and has a volume of 305,811,900 km3, the North Atlantic covers 41,490,000 km2 and the South Atlantic 40,270,000 km2. The average depth is 3,646 m and the maximum depth, the bathymetry of the Atlantic is dominated by a submarine mountain range called the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. It runs from 87°N or 300 km south of the North Pole to the subantarctic Bouvet Island at 42°S, the MAR divides the Atlantic longitudinally into two halves, in each of which a series of basins are delimited by secondary, transverse ridges. The MAR reaches above 2000 m along most of its length, the MAR is a barrier for bottom water, but at these two transform faults deep water currents can pass from one side to the other
8.
Quebec
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Quebec is the second-most populous province of Canada and the only one to have a predominantly French-speaking population, with French as the sole provincial official language. Quebec is Canadas largest province by area and its second-largest administrative division and it also shares maritime borders with Nunavut, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia. Quebec is Canadas second-most populous province, after Ontario, most inhabitants live in urban areas near the Saint Lawrence River between Montreal and Quebec City, the capital. Approximately half of Quebec residents live in the Greater Montreal Area, the Nord-du-Québec region, occupying the northern half of the province, is sparsely populated and inhabited primarily by Aboriginal peoples. Even in central Quebec at comparatively southerly latitudes winters are severe in inland areas, Quebec independence debates have played a large role in the politics of the province. Parti Québécois governments held referendums on sovereignty in 1980 and 1995, in 2006, the House of Commons of Canada passed a symbolic motion recognizing the Québécois as a nation within a united Canada. These many industries have all contributed to helping Quebec become an economically influential province within Canada, early variations in the spelling of the name included Québecq and Kébec. French explorer Samuel de Champlain chose the name Québec in 1608 for the colonial outpost he would use as the seat for the French colony of New France. The province is sometimes referred to as La belle province, the Province of Quebec was founded in the Royal Proclamation of 1763 after the Treaty of Paris formally transferred the French colony of Canada to Britain after the Seven Years War. The proclamation restricted the province to an area along the banks of the Saint Lawrence River, the Treaty of Versailles ceded territories south of the Great Lakes to the United States. After the Constitutional Act of 1791, the territory was divided between Lower Canada and Upper Canada, with each being granted an elected legislative assembly, in 1840, these become Canada East and Canada West after the British Parliament unified Upper and Lower Canada into the Province of Canada. This territory was redivided into the Provinces of Quebec and Ontario at Confederation in 1867, each became one of the first four provinces. In 1898, the Canadian Parliament passed the first Quebec Boundary Extension Act that expanded the provincial boundaries northward to include the lands of the aboriginal peoples. This was followed by the addition of the District of Ungava through the Quebec Boundaries Extension Act of 1912 that added the northernmost lands of the Inuit to create the modern Province of Quebec. In 1927, the border between Quebec and Newfoundland and Labrador was established by the British Judicial Committee of the Privy Council. Located in the part of Canada, and part of Central Canada. Its topography is very different from one region to another due to the composition of the ground, the climate. The Saint Lawrence Lowland and the Canadian Shield are the two main regions, and are radically different
9.
The Maritimes
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The Maritimes, also called the Maritime provinces or the Canadian Maritimes, is a region of Eastern Canada consisting of three provinces, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, and Prince Edward Island. The Maritimes had a population of 1,813,606 in 2016, the Maritimes, along with a fourth province – Canadas easternmost province, Newfoundland and Labrador – make up Atlantic Canada. Located along the Atlantic coast, various aquatic sub-basins are located in the Maritimes, such as the Gulf of Maine, the region is located northeast of New England, southeast of Quebecs Gaspé Peninsula, and southwest of the island of Newfoundland. All three provinces are entirely south of the southernmost extremity of Western Canada, and are the provinces of Canada without large. The Mikmaq, Maliseet and Passamaquoddy people are indigenous to the Maritimes, while Acadian, the word maritime is an adjective that simply means of the sea, thus any land associated with the sea can be considered a maritime state or province. Nonetheless, the term Maritimes has historically been applied to New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island. The Middle Period, starting 6,000 years ago, and this is also when what is called the Laurentian tradition started among Archaic Indians, existing First Nations peoples of the time. Evidence of Archaic Indian burial mounds and other ceremonial sites existing in the Saint John River valley has been uncovered, the primarily agrarian Maliseet Nation settled throughout the Saint John River and Allagash River valleys of present-day New Brunswick and Maine. The Passamaquoddy Nation inhabited the coastal regions of the present-day Bay of Fundy. The Maritimes were the area in Canada to be settled by Europeans. Both Giovanni Caboto and Giovanni da Verrazzano are reported to have sailed in or near Maritime waters during their voyages of discovery for England, several Portuguese explorers/cartographers have also documented various parts of the Maritimes, namely Diogo Homem. However, it was French explorer Jacques Cartier who made the first detailed reconnaissance of the region for a European power, and in so doing, claimed the region for the King of France. Champlain went on to fame as the founder of New Frances province of Canada which comprises much of the present-day lower St. Lawrence River valley in the province of Quebec. Most Acadian fishing activities were overshadowed by the comparatively enormous seasonal European fishing fleets based out of Newfoundland which took advantage of proximity to the Grand Banks. In 1613, Virginian raiders captured Port-Royal, and in 1621 Acadia was ceded to Scotlands Sir William Alexander who renamed it Nova Scotia. By 1632, Acadia was returned from Scotland to France under the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, colonial administration by France throughout the history of Acadia was contemptuous at best. Frances priorities were in settling and strengthening its claim on New France and the exploration and settlement of interior North America, over 74 years there were six colonial wars, which involved continuous warfare between New England and Acadia. Throughout these wars, New England was allied with the Iroquois Confederacy, in the first war, King Williams War, natives from the Maritime region participated in numerous attacks with the French on the Acadia/ New England border in southern Maine
Canada
