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About CANADA

Land Mass:	At 9 970 610 square km, Canada is the second largest country in the world
Capital :	Ottawa, in the province of Ontario
Population:	31,280,000
Provinces and Territories:	Canada has 10 provinces and 2 territories, each with its own capital city (in brackets): Alberta (Edmonton); British Columbia (Victoria); Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown); Manitoba (Winnipeg); New Brunswick (Fredericton); Nova Scotia (Halifax); Ontario (Toronto); Quebec (Quebec City); Saskatchewan (Regina); Newfoundland (St. John's); Northwest Territories (Yellowknife) and Yukon Territory (Whitehorse).
Geography :	Diversity is the keynote of Canada's geography, which includes fertile plains suitable for agriculture, vast mountain ranges, lakes and rivers. Wilderness forests give way to arctic tundra in the Far North.
Climate :	There are of course many climatic variations in this huge country, ranging from the permanently frozen ice caps north of the 70th parallel to the luxuriant vegetation of British Columbia's west coast. On the whole, though, Canada has four very distinct seasons, especially in the regions lying along the U.S. border. Daytime summer temperatures can rise to 35 °C and higher, while lows of -25 are not uncommon in winter. More moderate temperatures are the norm in spring and fall.
National Parks and Historic Sites :	The Canadian government has set aside more than 100 national parks and historic sites in honor of the people, places and events that have marked the country's history. Similarly, the provincial governments may form provincial parks. Canada's 37 national parks are spread throughout the country. Banff, located on the eastern slopes of Alberta's Rocky Mountains, is the oldest, having opened in 1885, while Vuntut in the northern Yukon was established as recently as 1993.
Mountain Ranges :	As one might expect, Canada's terrain incorporates a number of mountain ranges: the Torngats, Appalachians and Laurentians in the east; the Rocky, Coastal and Mackenzie ranges in the west; and Mount St. Elias and the Pelly Mountains in the north. At 6050 m, Mount Logan in the Yukon is Canada's tallest peak.
Lakes :	The main lakes, in order of the surface area located in Canada, (many large lakes are traversed by the Canada-U.S. border) are Huron, Great Bear, Superior, Great Slave, Winnipeg, Erie and Ontario. Great Bear Lake in the Northwest Territories is the largest lake situated entirely in Canada; its area is 31 326 km².
Rivers:	The St. Lawrence River, which is 3058 km long, provides a seaway for ships from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. The Mackenzie is the longest river, flowing 4241 km through the Northwest Territories. The Yukon and the Columbia, parts of which flow through U.S. territory, the Nelson, the Saskatchewan, the Peace and the Churchill are also major watercourses.
Time Zones :	Canada has six time zones. The easternmost, in Newfoundland, is three hours and 30 minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time (GMT). The other time zones are the Atlantic, the Eastern, the Central, the Rocky Mountain and, farthest west, the Pacific, which is eight hours behind GMT.
Political System:	Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state with a democratic parliament. The Parliament of Canada, in Ottawa, consists of the House of Commons, whose members are elected, and the Senate, whose members are appointed. On average, members of Parliament are elected every four years.
National Emblem:	The maple leaf has been associated with Canada since the 1700s. It has become the country's most important symbol since the national flag was introduced in 1965.
National Anthem:	O Canada was proclaimed the national anthem on July 1, 1980, a century after being sung for the first time.
Currency:	The Canadian dollar is divided into 100 cents.
Life Expectancy:	Women can expect to live almost 80 years, and men, 73, years according to 1991 data.
Health Care and Social Security:	All Canadians have free access to health care, with the exception of dental services. Most people over 65 and social aid recipients receive the majority of their prescription drugs free of charge. Canada also has an extensive social security network, including old age pension, family allowance, unemployment insurance and welfare.
Religion:	The majority of Canadians are Christian. According to the 1991 census, Roman Catholicism has the most adherents (54.2 percent of Canadians), followed by Protestantism. Other religions include Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism and Buddhism. About 3.4 million people stated that they had no religious affiliation whatsoever.
Languages:	English, the mother tongue of 16.1 million Canadians, and French, the language of 6.5 million, are Canada's two official languages. However, many Canadians have a mother tongue other than English or French, including Italian, Chinese, German, Portuguese, Polish, Ukrainian, Dutch, Greek or other languages.
Education :	The educational system varies from province to province and includes six to eight years of elementary school, four or five years of secondary school and three or four years at the university undergraduate level. The 1991 census revealed that among Canadians aged 15 and over, 56.9 percent had attended secondary school, 31.7 percent had gone to a trade school or other type of post-secondary institution, and 1.9 million -- 11.4 percent of the population -- had a university degree.
Leading Industries:	These include automobile manufacturing, pulp and paper, iron and steel work, machinery and equipment manufacturing, mining, extraction of fossil fuels, forestry and agriculture.
Gross Domestic Product:	The GDP measures the value of all goods and services produced by a country during a year. Canada's GDP was C$ 688.5 billion Canadian dollars in 1992.
Exports:	Canada's leading exports are automobile vehicles and parts, machinery and equipment, high-technology products, oil, natural gas, metals, and forest and farm products.
Imports :	Canada imports machinery and industrial equipment including communications and electronic equipment, vehicles and automobile parts, industrial materials (metal ores, iron and steel, precious metals, chemicals, plastics, cotton, wool and other textiles), along with manufactured products and food.