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P:CA

Wednesday, October 9, 2024

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Introduction

Flag and Arms of Canada

Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's second-largest country by total area, with the world's longest coastline. Its border with the United States is the world's longest international land border. The country is characterized by a wide range of both meteorologic and geological regions. It is a sparsely inhabited country of just over 41 million people, the vast majority residing south of the 55th parallel in urban areas. Canada's capital is Ottawa and its three largest metropolitan areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy in the Westminster tradition. The country's head of government is the prime minister, who holds office by virtue of their ability to command the confidence of the elected House of Commons and is appointed by the governor general, representing the monarch of Canada, the ceremonial head of state. The country is a Commonwealth realm and is officially bilingual (English and French) in the federal jurisdiction. It is very highly ranked in international measurements of government transparency, quality of life, economic competitiveness, innovation, education and gender equality. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its history, economy, and culture.

A developed country, Canada has a high nominal per capita income globally and its advanced economy ranks among the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed international trade networks. Recognized as a middle power, Canada's strong support for multilateralism and internationalism has been closely related to its foreign relations policies of peacekeeping and aid for developing countries. Canada is part of multiple international organizations and forums. (Full article...)

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Featured article - show another

Insignia of a Member

The Order of Canada (French: Ordre du Canada) is a Canadian state order and the second-highest honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian content

See also: historic events and sites

Featured biography - show another

Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, RCN, Commander-in-Chief of the Canadian North West Atlantic c. May 1943.

Rear Admiral Leonard Warren Murray, CB, CBE (22 June 1896 – 25 November 1971) was an officer in the Royal Canadian Navy who played a central role in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was the only Canadian to command an Allied theatre of operations during World War II. (Full article...)

More featured Canadian biographies

See also: historically significant biographies

Selected panorama - show another

Winnipeg photographed from top of Union Bank Building, 1907

Credit: W. A. Cooper

More Canadian panoramas

National symbol - show another

Snow Dome, Mt. Forbes, the Lyells, and others from Mt. Kitchener at the edge of the Columbia Icefield

The Canadian Rockies (French: Rocheuses canadiennes) or Canadian Rocky Mountains, comprising both the Alberta Rockies and the British Columbian Rockies, is the Canadian segment of the North American Rocky Mountains. It is the easternmost part of the Canadian Cordillera, which is the northern segment of the North American Cordillera, the expansive system of interconnected mountain ranges between the Interior Plains and the Pacific Coast that runs northwest–southeast from central Alaska to the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Mexico. (Full article...)

More symbols of Canada

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Government of Canada wordmark

The Government of Canada (French: Gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. The term Government of Canada refers specifically to the executive, which includes ministers of the Crown (together in the Cabinet) and the federal civil service (whom the Cabinet direct); it is alternatively known as His Majesty's Government (French: Gouvernement de Sa Majesté) and is corporately branded as the Government of Canada. There are over 100 departments and agencies, as well as over 300,000 persons employed in the Government of Canada. These institutions carry out the programs and enforce the laws established by the Parliament of Canada. (Full article...)

More Canadian vital articles

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White-breasted Nuthatch in Algonquin Provincial Park, Ontario, Canada
Credit: Mdf

More information

Featured Canadian picture

More Canadian pictures

Current events

October 4, 2024 –: At least two people are killed and three others are injured, including one critically, in a suspected arson at a 100-year-old three-story building in the Old Montreal neighbourhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (CBC News) (CFCF-TV); A woman from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, is arrested and charged with murder following a stabbing spree that killed three people in Toronto, Niagara Falls and Hamilton between Tuesday and Thursday. (CFTO-TV)
September 25, 2024 –: Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau survives a no-confidence vote by a vote of 211–119. (BBC News)
September 24, 2024 –: Scientists from the University of Waterloo announce that they have positively identified bones found on King William Island in Nunavut, Canada, as those of James Fitzjames, captain of HMS Erebus during Franklin's lost expedition. (CBC News)
September 20, 2024 –: Three people are injured in a stabbing attack at a mosque in Châteauguay, Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The perpetrator is arrested and charged. (CTV News)
September 9, 2024 –: Finnish-Canadian sportswear mogul Peter Nygård is sentenced to 11 years in prison for sexual assault. (CBC News)

Past Canadian events

Did you know - show another

... that Sheila Egoff, Canada's first professor of children's literature, returned to her library work immediately after retirement?
... that the Canadian government implemented the Peasant Farm Policy to force First Nations farmers to use the methods of European peasants?
... that Canadian peacekeepers participated in every UN peacekeeping effort from its inception until 1989?
... that Chinese-Canadian Zhuo Qun Song is currently the most decorated International Mathematical Olympiad contestant?
... that Michelle O'Bonsawin is the first Indigenous person appointed to the Supreme Court of Canada?
... that the relative rarity of the radiodont Titanokorys (video featured) in Marble Canyon suggests that the deposits in which it was found may represent the outermost edge of its distribution in life?
... that Gil Kim played professional baseball in the Netherlands, China, Australia, Spain, and Venezuela, scouted in Mexico and the Dominican Republic, and coaches in Canada?

More Did you know facts

Featured list - show another

The Memorial Cup is a junior ice hockey club championship trophy awarded annually to the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) champion. Each year the champions from three CHL member leagues—the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL), along with a host team—compete in the Memorial Cup Tournament. The OHL's Saginaw Spirit are the defending champions. (Full article...)