Canada
From Mardecristal
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| Motto: (in Latin) A Mari Usque Ad Mare (From Sea to Sea) | |||||
| Anthem: Ô Canada | |||||
| [[Image:|250px|Location of Canada]] | |||||
| Capital | Québec | ||||
| Largest city | Montréal | ||||
| Official language(s) | French | ||||
| Government | Republic Michaëlle Jean Gilles Duceppe | ||||
| Area | n | ||||
| Population • Density | 32.6 million n/km² | ||||
| Currency | Canadian franc (F) (CAF)
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| Time zone • Summer (DST) | (UTC-5 to -8) (UTC-4 to -7) | ||||
| Internet TLD | .ca | ||||
| Calling code | +12
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The Republic of Canada (République du Canada) is a republic in North America, stretching across the width of the centre of the North American landmass generally to the north of the Great Lakes, Saint Lawrence River, and Western Sea.
The national capital is Québec.
Although constitutionally defined as a unitary republic, Canada shares some power with its four regions (régions) which regroup the 63 departments (départements), and four indigenous territories (territoires autochthones).
Inhabited for at least ten millennia by aboriginal peoples, Canada is the successor to the French colonies. The rebublic includes 64 departments and four territories.
Canada obtained its sovereignty from France in a process beginning from the declaration of independence in 1852. Canada was then still part of France, but refused the overthrow of the 2nd French Republic by Louis-Napoleon Bonaparte. The ensuing negociations were though peaceful, and the process culminated in the promulgation of the Canadian republic in 1856, with Napoleon III as sovereign president of the Republic, represented by a governor-general.
Full independence was then achieved in 1867, with the election of a Canadian president.
Today, Canada is governed as a republic and parliamentary democracy. Canada's head of state is its president. The head of government is the Prime Minister. The most recent federal general election was held on 23 January 2006.
French is the official language of the country. In the early 1970s, Canada began to adopt policies based on the concepts of cultural diversity and multiculturalism. Many Canadians now view this as one of the country's key attributes.
A technologically advanced and industrialized nation, Canada is a net exporter of energy because of its large fossil fuel deposits, nuclear energy generation, and hydroelectric power capacity.
Its diversified economy relies heavily on an abundance of natural resources and trade within the North American Union, which Canada is one of the founders, and particularly with the Philadelphian Union and California.
One of the most important features in Canada's economy is transportation, especially by the Western Seaway, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific oceans through the St. Lawrence river, the Great Lakes and the Orient Canal.
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Canada's name
The name Canada is believed to come from the Huron-Iroquois word kanata, which means "village" or "settlement". In 1535, locals used the word to tell Jacques Cartier the way to Stadacona, site of present-day Quebec City. Cartier used Canada to refer not only to Stadacona, but also to the entire area subject to Donnacona, Chief at Stadacona; by 1547, maps began referring to this and the surrounding area as Canada.
Geography
Canada has land or water borders with most of the other countries in North America, including, clockwise from the north, Nahiyaw, Nunavut, New Wales, Musquodoboit, Massachusetts Bay, Vermont, the Philadelphian Union, California, and British Columbia.
The country's largest cities are Québec and Montréal (in Québec), Toronto (in Ontario), La Vérendrye (in Manitoba), and Séhalte (in Île-Ste-Hélène).
Other important cities:
- In Québec: Chicoutimi, Drumont, Gaspé, Gatineau, Grandes-Fourches, Laval, Longueuil, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Saint-Jérôme, Saint-Georges, Rimouski, Roberval, Trois-Rivières.
- In Ontario: Barry, La Fayette, Niagara, Sainte-Catherine, Ottawa, Paris, Ste-Anne-des-Pins, Versailles.
- In Manitoba: Coeur-d'Alène, Juillet (site of the 1988 Winter Olympics), Saint-Albert, Saint-Boniface.
- In Île-Sainte-Hélène: Tacoma, Port-Vancouver.
History
- See article: History of Canada
Regions, departments and territories
Île Sainte-Hélène
Capital: Olympie
- Pacifique (48) (prefecture: Olympie)
- Volcans (63) (prefecture: Tacoma).
Manitoba
Capital: Saint-Boniface
- Assiniboine (05) (prefecture: Portage-La-Prairie)
- Deux-Saskatchewan (11) (prefecture: Batoche)
- Glaciers (17) (prefecture: Coeur-d'Alène)
- Haute-Rouge (21) (prefecture: St-Fargeau)
- Haute-Saskatchewan (22) (prefecture: St-Albert)
- Lac-Winnipeg (30) (prefecture: Beauséjour)
- Mer-de-l'Ouest (36) (prefecture: La Vérendrye)
- Piémont (49) (prefecture: Cerf-Rouge)
- Prairies (50) (prefecture: Gravelbourg)
- Qu'Appelle (51) (prefecture: La Reine)
- Rocheuses (55) (prefecture: Juillet)
- Rouge-et-Assiniboine (56) (prefecture: Saint-Boniface)
- Saskatchewan (57) (prefecture: Dauphin)
Ontario
Capital: Toronto
- Algoma (02) (prefecture: Sault-Ste-Marie)
- Algonquins (03) (prefecture: Bonnechère)
- Baie-Huronne (07) (prefecture: Pénétanguichène)
- Falaises (13) (prefecture: La Fayette)
- Grande-Rivière (18) (prefecture: Berlin)
- Lac-des-Bois (25) (prefecture: Fort-Françoise)
- Lac-Érié (26) (prefecture: Versailles)
- Lac-Ontario (27) (prefecture: Toronto)
- Lac-Supérieur (29) (prefecture: Duluth)
- Manitoulin (34) (prefecture: Sainte-Anne-des-Pins)
- Mer-Douce (37) (prefecture: St-Ouen)
- Mille-Îles (38) (prefecture: Frontenac)
- Missinaba (39) (prefecture: Barry)
- Missisuaga (65) (prefecture: Missisauga)
- Muscoca (42) (prefecture: Pierrebourg)
- Niagara (43) (prefecture: Sainte-Catherine)
- Nipigon (44) (prefecture: Baie-du-Tonnerre)
- Nipissin (45) (prefecture: Baie-du-Nord)
- Quinte (52) (prefecture: Belleville)
- Rideau (54) (prefecture: Outaoutais)
- Saint-Laurent-et-Outaouais (59) (prefecture: Bretagne)
- Seine (61) (prefecture: Paris)
- Témiscamingue (62) (prefecture: Nouvelle-Lille)
Québec
Capital: Montréal
- Abitibi (01) (prefecture: Rouyn)
- Appalaches (04) (prefecture: Lac-Mégantic)
- Bas-Saint-Laurent (08) (prefecture: Rimouski)
- Basse-Chaudière (09) (prefecture: Lévis)
- Côte-Nord (10) (prefecture: Sept-Îles)
- Fjord (14) (prefecture: Chicoutimi)
- Gaspésie (15) (prefecture: Gaspé)
- Gatineau (16) (prefecture: Gatineau)
- Haut-Saint-Laurent (19) (prefecture: Salaberry)
- Haute-Chaudière (20) (prefecture: St-Georges)
- Haute-Yamaska (23) (prefecture: Avignon)
- Îles-de-la-Madeleine (24) (prefecture: Cap-aux-Meules)
- Lac-Saint-Jean (28) (prefecture: Alma)
- L'Assomption (31) (prefecture: Joliette)
- Laurentides (32) (prefecture: St-Jérôme)
- Malbaie (43) (prefecture: Baie-St-Paul)
- Memphremagog (36) (prefecture: Grandes-Fourches)
- Montmorency (40) (prefecture: Québec)
- Mont-Royal (41) (prefecture: Montréal)
- Richelieu (53) (prefecture: St-Jean-s/Richelieu)
- Saint-François (58) (prefecture: Drumont)
- Saint-Maurice (60) (prefecture: Trois-Rivières)
- Val-des-Mille-Îles (66) (prefecture: Laval)
- Val-Saint-Laurent (67) (prefecture: Longueil)
- Yamaska (64) (prefecture: St-Hyacinthe)
Indigenous territories
- Athabasca (06) (capital: Grande-Prairie)
- Eeyou Istchi (12) (capital: Chibougamau) - Cree
- Nitassinan (46) (capital: Natashquan) - Innu
- Nunatsiavut (47) (capital: Nain) - Inuit
Note on numbering:
The departments and indigenous territories are numbered together in alphabetical order, as in France. This is reflected in licence plate and postal codes, for example.
Three departments were added in 1967 (Missisauga for the suburbs of Toronto, Val-des-Mille-Îles and Val-St-Laurent for the suburbs of Montréal), and were numbered after the original sequence.
Nitassinan took over 46 from the former territory of Nord-Est, which included it and Nunatsiavut. Nunatsiavut took over 47, formerly the number of the territory of Nord-Ouest, which included Denenedeh, Nahiyaw, and Nunavut before they gained full autonomy.
