Canada
|
| Basic Facts |
| Country name |
conventional long form: none
conventional short form: Canada |
| Gevernment type | constitutional monarchy that is also a parliamentary democracy and a federation |
| Capital |
name: Ottawa
geographic coordinates: 45 25 N, 75 40 W time difference: UTC-5 (same time as Washington, DC during Standard Time) daylight saving time: +1hr, begins second Sunday in March; ends first Sunday in November note: Canada is divided into six time zones |
| Flag description | two vertical bands of red (hoist and fly side, half width), with white square between them; an 11-pointed red maple leaf is centered in the white square; the official colors of Canada are red and white |
| Currency | Canadian dollar (CAD) |
| Internet country code | .ca |
| Ports and terminals | Fraser River Port, Halifax, Montreal, Port Cartier, Quebec, Saint John's (Newfoundland), Sept Isles, Vancouver |
| Agriculture products | wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco, fruits, vegetables; dairy products; forest products; fish |
| Industries | transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, fish products, petroleum and natural gas |
| Geography |
| Location | Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean on the east, North Pacific Ocean on the west, and the Arctic Ocean on the north, north of the conterminous US |
| Coordinates | 60 00 N, 95 00 W |
| Continent | North America |
| Area |
total: 9,984,670 sq km
land: 9,093,507 sq km water: 891,163 sq km |
| Boundaries |
total: 8,893 km
border countries: US 8,893 km (includes 2,477 km with Alaska) |
| Coastline | 202,080 km |
| Climate | varies from temperate in south to subarctic and arctic in north |
| Terrain | mostly plains with mountains in west and lowlands in southeast |
| Natural resources | iron ore, nickel, zinc, copper, gold, lead, molybdenum, potash, diamonds, silver, fish, timber, wildlife, coal, petroleum, natural gas, hydropower |
| Natural hazards | continuous permafrost in north is a serious obstacle to development; cyclonic storms form east of the Rocky Mountains, a result of the mixing of air masses from the Arctic, Pacific, and North American interior, and produce most of the country's rain and snow east of the mountains |
| People |
| Population | 33,098,932 (July 2006 est.) |
| Ethnic groups | British Isles origin 28%, French origin 23%, other European 15%, Amerindian 2%, other, mostly Asian, African, Arab 6%, mixed background 26% |
| Religions | Roman Catholic 42.6%, Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%), other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census) |
| Languages | English (official) 59.3%, French (official) 23.2%, other 17.5% |
