|
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, 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.
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.
Reach family,
friends and work
colleges and make
your cheap phone
call today to
Canada. |
