Canada
Canada is a country in North America consisting of 10 provinces and 3 territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. The capital of Canada is Ottawa, Ontario. The absolute location is the exact location of a certain place on a map and Canada’s absolute location is 45.4214° N, 75.6919° W. The relative location is a location of a place in relation to another. Canada's relative location is above the United States of America. Canada is located in the northern-most region of North America. Its southern territories run along the northern border of the continental United States.
Canada has the eleventh-largest economy in the world and is one of the world's wealthiest nations. As with other developed nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three quarters of Canadians. Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of the primary sector, with the logging and oil industries being two of Canada's most important. Canada also has a sizable manufacturing sector, centered in Central Canada, with the automobile industry and aircraft industry especially important. With a long coastal line, Canada has the 8th largest commercial fishing and seafood industry in the world. Canada is one of the global leaders of the entertainment software industry. Canada’s climate is not as cold all year round as you might think. Winter temperatures fall below freezing in most of Canada but the South Western coast is relatively mild. Along the Arctic Circle is where it is coldest, the temperatures fall below freezing for around seven months of the year. During the summer the Southern provinces often have temperatures of over 86 °F and high levels of humidity. In terms of rainfall, Western and South-Eastern Canada has the most, while the Prairies are dry and only get 250 – 500 mm per year.
With temperatures throughout most of Canada falling below freezing during the winter, the best thing to do is to embrace it and get yourself along to a winter festival or ice carnival, or you could show off your skills at the world's longest skating rink, the Rideau Canal. The Rideau Canal is located in Ottawa which is about an hour away from my hometown. The summer is hot weather from late May to late September but summer starts officially in June and carries on through August, with July often being the hottest summer month.
Canada's population is concentrated in the areas close to the U.S. border. Canada's four largest provinces (Ontario, Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta) are also its most populous; together they account for 86% of the country's population. The territories (Nunavut, Yukon and the Northwest Territories) account for over a third of Canada's area but are home to only 0.3% of its population. In 2012, Canada’s population was 34.88 billion people.
A multitude of languages are spoken in Canada. English and French are the preferred language ("home language", or language spoken most often in the home) of 67.1% and 21.5% of the population, respectively. English and French are recognized by the Constitution of Canada as "official languages," which means that all laws of the federal government are enacted in both English and French and that federal government services are required to be available in both languages. The five most widely-spoken non-official languages are Chinese (the home language of 2.6% of Canadians), Punjabi (0.8%), Spanish (0.7%), Italian (0.6%), and Arabic (0.5%). As the second largest country in the world, Canada includes a wide variety of land regions, vast maritime terrains, thousands of islands, more lakes and inland waters than any other country, and the longest coastline on the planet. In essence, Canada is a smorgasbord of landforms. Canada’s significant landforms include the Appalachian Mountains; St. Lawrence River; Canadian Shield; Canadian Arctic Archipelago; Great Lakes; Hudson Bay; Great Plains; Lake Winnipeg; Columbia, Fraser, Mackenzie and Yukon Rivers; Great Bear Lake; Great Slave Lake; Rocky Mountains; Canadian Cordillera and the dozens of volcanoes along the Pacific Ring of Fire.
Canada has thousands of different bodies of water. Some of Canada's major bodies of water include the Pacific Ocean, Bering Sea, Artic Ocean, Hudson Bay, Hudson Straight, and Baffin Bay.
Canadian animal life includes such large mammals as moose, woodland caribou, black bears, polar bears, deer, and wolves, as well as numerous small mammals, including porcupines, skunks, muskrats, rabbits, beavers, otters, and foxes. Among the birds are ducks, geese, grouse, hawks, owls, and finches.
Freedom of religion in this country is a right protected by the constitution. Believers of any faith are given the freedom to assemble, worship and preach without any interference. French and British introduced Christianity to Canada. Today, approximately 77% Canadians follow Christianity, while most others don't follow any religion at all. Other religions that exist in Canada are Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism, among others.
Pollution is an environmental issue in Canada. Air, water and soil pollution as well as the health effects associated with these three types of pollution, are concerns in modern Canadian society.
Forest fires can break out at any time, regardless of the season. In the grasslands and forests of western Canada the fire hazard is higher. Tornadoes can occur almost anywhere in Canada. May to September are the main tornado months with the peak season in June and early July in southern Ontario, Alberta, south eastern Quebec, and a band stretching from southern Saskatchewan and Manitoba through to Thunder Bay. From July to November coastal areas are sometimes affected by hurricanes. During the winter, highways are often closed in Alberta, British Columbia and other Provinces because of snow storms and avalanches. British Columbia and Yukon are located in an active earthquake zone with the coast of British Columbia being most at risk from a major earthquake.
Canada has one of the world's most valuable commercial fishing industries, worth more than $5 billion a year and providing more than 120,000 jobs to Canadians. It is the economic mainstay of approximately 1,500 communities in rural and coastal Canada.
Canada is the 5th largest agricultural exporter in the world, and the agriculture and food industry employs 2.1 million Canadians (that's 1 in 8 jobs). They produce about 85% of the world's maple syrup, and are the world's largest producer and exporter of flax seed, canola, pulses and durum wheat.
Sport is highly appreciated in Canada, and it has many teams take part in various tournaments, representing several sports. Ice hockey is Canada's national winter sport, whereas Lacrosse is the official summer sport. The most common games citizens participate in are ice hockey, volleyball, baseball, basketball, soccer, golf, swimming, skiing, tennis and cycling. Ice hockey is the most popular spectator sport. Lacrosse is the country's oldest sport and has Native American origins. Up until this year Canada has won 278 Olympic medals in summer games and 145 in winter games.
Transportation in Canada include trains, buses, subways, personal vehicles, and boats. Due to the vast variety of climates in Canada it depends where you live on what type of transportation would be best.