Outline of Canada

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Canada (orthographic projection).svg
An enlargeable map of Canada, showing its ten provinces and three territories.

Canada (play /ˈkænədə/) is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean.[1] It is the world's second largest country by total area, and shares land borders with the United States to the south and northwest, and marine borders with France and Greenland on the east and northeast, respectively.

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 of four provinces.[2][3][4] 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.

Canada is a federation that is governed as 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 outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to Canada:

Contents

[edit] General reference

An enlargeable map of Canada

[edit] Geography of Canada

Canadian Provinces and Territories

[edit] Environment of Canada

An enlargeable satellite image of Canada

[edit] Geographic features of Canada

A satellite image of the Great Lakes.

[edit] Regions of Canada

Main article: Regions of Canada

[edit] Other regions

[edit] Ecoregions of Canada

Main article: Ecoregions of Canada

[edit] Administrative divisions of Canada

[edit] Provinces

Province, with flag Postal abbreviation/
ISO code
Other abbreviations Capital Entered Confederation Population
(2007)[7]
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., SK, 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.

[edit] 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.

[edit] Municipalities of Canada
Canadian Provinces and Territories

[edit] Demography of Canada

[edit] Demographics by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] Government and politics of Canada

Canada

This article is part of the series:
Politics and government of
Canada


 
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Main article: Government of Canada and Politics of Canada

[edit] Branches of the government of Canada


[edit] Executive branch of the government of Canada

Government of Canada

[edit] Legislative branch of the government of Canada

[edit] Judicial branch of the government of Canada

[edit] Foreign relations of Canada

[edit] International organization membership

Canada is a member of:[1]

[edit] Law and order in Canada

Main article: Law of Canada

[edit] Military of Canada

Main article: Military of Canada
Military history of Canada
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This article is part of a series
History of..
Colonial militia
Crown & Forces
Army · Navy · Air Force
Conflicts
Beaver Wars
King William's War
Queen Anne's War
Dummer's War
King George's War
Father Le Loutre's War
French and Indian War
American Civil War
War of 1812
Fenian raids
Wolseley Expedition
North-West Rebellion
Boer War
First World War
Spanish Civil War
Second World War
Cold War
Korean War
Vietnam War
Gulf War
Afghanistan War
Iraq War
Intervention in Libya
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Conflicts · Operations · Victories
Peacekeeping · Bibliography
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[edit] Province governments

[edit] Territory governments

[edit] Politics by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] History of Canada

Main article: History of Canada and List of years in Canada
When Canada was formed in 1867 its provinces were a relatively narrow strip in the southeast, with vast territories in the interior. It grew by adding British Columbia in 1871, P.E.I. in 1873, the British Arctic Islands in 1880, and Newfoundland in 1949; meanwhile, its provinces grew both in size and number at the expense of its territories.
Evolution of the borders and names of Canada's provinces and territories

[edit] History of Canada by period

[edit] History of Canada by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] Culture of Canada

Main article: Culture of Canada

[edit] Culture by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] Art in Canada

[edit] Music of Canada

Main article: Music of Canada
[edit] Music by political division
[edit] Provinces
[edit] Territories

[edit] Religion in Canada

[edit] Sport in Canada

Main article: Sport in Canada

Official Sports

Other sports

[edit] Economy and infrastructure of Canada

[edit] Economics by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] Education in Canada

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

[edit] Higher Education by political division

[edit] Provinces

[edit] Territories

[edit] Bibliographies

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b "Canada". The World Factbook. United States Central Intelligence Agency. July 8, 2009. https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/ca.html. Retrieved July 23, 2009. 
  2. ^ "Territorial evolution". Atlas of Canada. Natural Resources Canada. http://atlas.nrcan.gc.ca/site/english/maps/reference/anniversary_maps/terr_evol. Retrieved 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". Country Profiles. Commonwealth Secretariat. http://www.thecommonwealth.org/YearbookInternal/145152/history/. Retrieved 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". Canadian Encyclopedia. Historica Project. http://thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=A1ARTA0001798. Retrieved 2007-10-09. "With CONFEDERATION in 1867, Canada became the first federation in the British Empire ..." 
  5. ^ The total length of the land border between Canada and the United States is the longest between any two countries.
  6. ^ The coastline of Canada is the longest in the world. The total length of the coast of Canada is more than five times as long as the circumference of the Earth.
  7. ^ Statistics Canada Population Estimates (April 1, 2007)

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