Canada: A Great Country

Introduction

    Throughout the world, Canada is recognized as being a country with an enviable quality of life, a pro-active and stable government, and a robust economy. In addition to this, Canada offers many natural beauties; from lying in the sun on the shore of a calm lake in Ontario to seeing the breathtaking views atop the mountains of British Columbia. Canada is the place to see!

Canada's Place in the World

    Canada, being the second largest country in the world, is a prime destination for tourists. Within its 9,976,000 square kilometers (3.9 million square miles), there are mountains, prairies, arctic tundra, glaciers, valleys, foothills, rivers, and lakes.

    Canada has a population of 30 million people of which 28% are of British descent, 23% are of French descent, 3% are of Italian descent, 2% are Aboriginal peoples, plus significant minorities of Dutch, Chinese, Polish, German, Greek, and Ukrainian. Canada has a low population density. In fact, there are only 3.1 people in Canada per square kilometer. The vast majority of the country's population lives in the south, concentrated in urban areas. Because of this, Canada has vibrant cities and pristine nature. Each is quite separate so you can experience both.

    Canada has a very strong cultural background. There are many museums and galleries to see such as the ROM (Toronto, Ontario), which specializes in dinosaurs, the Museum of Civilizations (Ottawa, Ontario), which specializes in aboriginal history, the Biodome (Montréal, Québec), which specializes in the animals of Canada, and the McMichael Gallery (Kleinberg, Ontario), which specializes in the Group of Seven, Inuit and First Nations art.

    Having a very high GDP per capita, Canada has a very good quality of life. This includes safe, crime-free cities, a reliable infrastructure, and a clean, beautiful country. Many cities in Canada have a very high quality of life rating. For example, Vancouver was rated to have the second best quality of life in the world! Other cities in Canada, such as Toronto, also received a very high rating.

Interesting Facts

Population:  30 Million

Capital City:  Ottawa, Ontario (pop:  1,010,500)

Languages:  English, French and 53 native languages

Religion:  Catholic (45%), Protestant (36%) and minorities from most of the world's major religions

Government:  Parliamentary democracy

Prime Minister:  Paul Martin

GDP:  US $774 billion

GDP per Capita:  US $25,000

Literacy Rate: 99%

Primary Sectors:  services (74%), manufacturing (15%), construction (5%), agriculture (3%), other (3%)

Annual Growth:  3%

Major Products/Industries:  processed and unprocessed minerals, food products, wood and paper products, transportation equipment, chemicals, fish products, petroleum and natural gas

Major Trading Partners:  USA, Japan, EU (UK, Germany, Netherlands), China and South Korea