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For an alphabetical index of this subject, see the List of Canada-related articles.
Location of Canada

Canada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean. It is the world's second largest country by total area,1 and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest.

The lands have been inhabited for millennia by various groups of 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, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion.234dubious – discuss This began an accretion of additional provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy from the United Kingdom, highlighted by the Statute of Westminster in 1931 and culminating in the Canada Act in 1982 which severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

A federation now comprising ten provinces and three territories, Canada is a parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. It is a bilingual and multicultural country, with both English and French as official languages at the federal level. Technologically advanced and industrialized, 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 a long and complex relationship.

The following topic outline is provided as an overview of and introduction to Canada:

Canada portal
Flag of Canada
A map of Canada, showing its ten provinces and three territories.

Contents


General reference

Geography of Canada

Satellite photograph of Canada
Main articles: Geography of Canada

Environment of Canada

Main article: Environment of Canada

Geographic features of Canada

Main article: Landforms of Canada

Regions of Canada

Main article: Regions of Canada

Other regions

Ecoregions of Canada

Main article: Ecoregions of Canada

Administrative divisions of Canada

Main article: Provinces and territories of Canada
Evolution of the borders and names of Canada's provinces and territories

Provinces

Province, with flag Postal abbreviation/
ISO code		 Other abbreviations Capital Entered Confederation Population
(2007)5		 Area (km²)
Land Water Total
 Ontario1 ON Ont. Toronto July 1, 1867 12,753,702 917,741 158,654 1,076,395
 Quebec1 QC Que., PQ, P.Q. Quebec City 7,687,068 1,356,128 185,928 1,542,056
 Nova Scotia2 NS N.S. Halifax 932,966 53,338 1,946 55,284
 New Brunswick2 NB N.B. Fredericton 748,878 71,450 1,458 72,908
 Manitoba3 MB Man. Winnipeg July 15, 1870 1,182,921 553,556 94,241 647,797
 British Columbia2 BC B.C. Victoria July 20, 1871 4,352,798 925,186 19,549 944,735
 Prince Edward Island2 PE PEI, P.E.I., P.E. Island Charlottetown July 1, 1873 138,800 5,660 — 5,660
 Saskatchewan4 SK Sask., SSK, SKWN Regina September 1, 1905 990,212 591,670 59,366 651,036
 Alberta4 AB Alta. Edmonton 3,455,062 642,317 19,531 661,848
 Newfoundland and Labrador5 NL Nfld., NF, LB St. John's March 31, 1949 506,548 373,872 31,340 405,212

Notes:

  1. Immediately prior to Confederation, Ontario and Quebec were part of the Province of Canada.
  2. Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, British Columbia, and Prince Edward Island were separate colonies at the time of joining Canada.
  3. Manitoba was established simultaneously with Northwest Territories.
  4. Saskatchewan and Alberta were created out of land that had been part of Northwest Territories.
  5. Prior to its entry, Newfoundland was a Dominion within the British Commonwealth.

Territories

There are currently three territories in Canada. Unlike the provinces, the territories of Canada have no inherent jurisdiction and only have those powers delegated to them by the federal government.

Territory, with flag Postal abbreviation/
ISO code		 Other abbreviations Capital Entered Confederation Population
(2007)		 Area (km²)
Land Water Total
 Northwest Territories NT N.W.T., NWT Yellowknife July 15, 1870 41,795 1,183,085 163,021 1,346,106
 Yukon YT Y.T., YK Whitehorse June 13, 1898 30,883 474,391 8,052 482,443
 Nunavut NU NV Iqaluit April 1, 1999 31,216 1,936,113 157,077 2,093,190

Note: Canada did not acquire any new land to create Yukon, Alberta, Saskatchewan, or Nunavut. All of these originally formed part of Northwest Territories.

Municipalities of Canada
Main article: Municipalities of Canada

Demography of Canada

Main article: Demography of Canada

Demographics by political division

Provinces

Territories

Government and politics of Canada

Main article: Government of Canada and Politics of Canada

Branches of the government of Canada

Main article: Government of Canada

Executive branch of the government of Canada

Legislative branch of the government of Canada

Judicial branch of the government of Canada

Main article: Court system of Canada

Foreign relations of Canada

Main article: Foreign relations of Canada

International organization membership

Canada is a member of:

Law and order in Canada

Main article: Law of Canada

Military of Canada

Main article: Military of Canada

Province governments

Territory governments

Politics by political division

Provinces

Territories

History of Canada

Main article: History of Canada, Timeline of Canadian history, and Current events of Canada

History of Canada by period

History of Canada by political division

Provinces

Territories

Culture of Canada

Main article: Culture of Canada

Culture by political division

Provinces

Territories

The Arts in Canada

Music of Canada

Main article: Music of Canada

Music by political division

Provinces

Territories

Sport in Canada

Main article: Sport in Canada

Official Sports

Other sports

Economy of Canada

Main article: Economy of Canada

Economics by political division

Provinces

Territories

Education in Canada

Main article: Education in Canada
Main article: Higher education in Canada

Higher Education by political division

Provinces

Territories

Infrastructure of Canada

See also

References

  1. ^ Central Intelligence Agency (2006-05-16). "The World Factbook: Canada". Central Intelligence Agency. Retrieved on 2007-05-06.
  2. ^ "Territorial evolution" (html/pdf). Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. "In 1867, the colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick are united in a federal state, the Dominion of Canada...."
  3. ^ "Canada: History" (html/pdf). Country Profiles. Commonwealth Secretariat. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. "The British North America Act of 1867 brought together four British colonies ... in one federal Dominion under the name of Canada."
  4. ^ Hillmer, Norman; W. David MacIntyre. "Commonwealth" (html). Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Project. Retrieved on 2007-10-09. "With CONFEDERATION in 1867, Canada became the first federation in the British Empire ..."
  5. ^ Statistics Canada Population Estimates (April 1, 2007)

External links

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