Area: 9,984,670 km² (land: 9,093,507 km², water: 891,163 km²)
Population: 34.0 million people (July 2011, CIA). Residents with British roots 28%, French roots 23%, other Europeans 15%, Amerindian 2%, others (the greatest Asian, African, Arab) 6%, mixed origin 26%.
Population density: 3.4 people per km²
Population growth: 0.794% per year (2011, CIA)
Capital: Ottawa (885,540 residents, 2006)
Highest point: Mount Logan, 5,959 m
Lowest point: Atlantic Ocean, 0 m
Form of government: Canada has been a parliamentary monarchy since 1931, represented in the Commonwealth. The current constitution dates from 1982. The federal parliament consists of two chambers: the House of Commons (Chambre des Communes) with 308 elected members and the Senate with 105 appointed members. All ten Canadian provinces each elect a governor and have regional legislation. The three Canadian territories (previously two) are governed by the federal administration. The only French-speaking province of Qébec has had a special status since 1992 and has a veto right when reforming federal institutions. Canada has been independent from Great Britain since July 1, 1867 (but the last constitutional ties to the mother country were not broken until 1982).
Administrative division: 10 provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador,Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec and Saskatchewan) and 3 territories (Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Yukon).
Prime Minister: Stephen Harper, since February 6, 2006
Head of State: since 1952 the British Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor General David Johnston since October 1, 2010.
Language: The official languages in Canada are English and French.
Religion: 42.6% Roman Catholic; 23.3% Protestants (including 9.5% United Church, 6.8% Anglicans, 2.4% Baptists, 2% Lutherans), 4.4% other Christian denominations, 1.9% Muslims, 11.8% others, 16% no commitment (2001).
Local time: Canada extends into six time zones:
Pacific Standard Time: CET – 9 h. Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET – 8 h (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -8 h
The time difference to Central Europe in both summer and winter is – 9 h
Mountain Standard Time: CET -8 h. Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET -7 h (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -7 h.
The time difference to Central Europe is – 8 h in both summer and winter.
Central Standard Time: CET -7 Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET – 6 h (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -6 h
The time difference to Central Europe is – 7 h in both summer and winter
Eastern Standard Time: CET -6 h. Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET -5 h (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -5 h
The time difference to Central Europe is – 6 h in both summer and winter.
Atlantic Standard Time: CET -5 h. Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET – 4 hours (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -4 hours
The time difference to Central Europe is -5 hours in both summer and winter
Newfoundland Standard Time: CET – 4:30 Second Sunday in March to first Sunday in November: CET – 3:30 h (summer time = standard time CET (winter time in Central Europe) -3: 30 h
The time difference to Central Europe is – 4:30 h in both summer and winter
International phone code: +1
Internet identification: approx
Mains voltage: 110 V / 120 V, 60 Hz. Two-pole flat plugs are used, an adapter is required.
Canada geography and map
With an area of almost 10 million square kilometers (almost the size of Europe) Canada is the second largest country in the world after Russia. According to 800zipcodes, the territory is made up of about 91% land and 9% water. Canada covers about half of North America, the only independent state with which the country shares a 8,890-kilometer border is the US in the northwest and south. Greenland, which belongs to Denmark, is separated from Canada’s northernmost island, Ellesmere, by the Kennedy Channel, which is around 30 kilometers wide.
From northern Cape Columbia on Ellesmere Island in Nunavut Territory to Lake Erie in Ontariolying island middleware Iceland in the south, the maximum north-south expansion over land 4,634 kilometers. The maximum east-west distance of 5,514 kilometers is between Labrador on the border of the Yukon Territory with Alaska and Cape Spear in Newfoundland achieved.
Landscape picture
The geography of Canada is very diverse. The Atlantic provinces of Labrador, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, Québec as wellNew Brunswick were formed from eroded, old mountains and geologically even older parts of the Canadian shield (also called Laurentian shield).
The Canadian Shield is a large, geologically very ancient region, some of the world’s oldest rocks were discovered here. It is located in the Hudson Bay region and takes up almost half of the Canadian territory. In Labrador and in the east of Québec and in Labrador the surface is rather flat, only partly hilly. Numerous rivers flow through the region. The south of the shield is overgrown by boreal forests, the northern half (including the islands of the Canadian-Arctic archipelago) is beyond the Arctic tree line and is covered by ice, rocks and tundra vegetation.
The islands in the east of the Canadian Arctic archipelago are mountainous, the islands in the west are flat.
To the west of the Canadian Shield, the inner plains expand. The predominant vegetation in the south of the Prairie Provinces of Alberta, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan is prairie grass, while the north is forested.
The most important mountain regions are in western Canada. The Canadian part of the Rocky Mountains, the Canadian Cordilleras, stretches from the northern Yukon Territory to the southern areas of Alberta and British Columbia. They are the dominant feature of the landscape in western Canada, where the 5959 m high Mount Logan is also Canada’s highest point.
In the Pacific coastal region, in British Columbia, lies a chain of coastal mountains with the Coast Mountains and the Mackenzie Mountains in a north-south direction. The coastal region itself is severely cut up by fjords. Vancouver Island is a continuation of the coastal mountain range.
Another important mountain system extends along the northeast coast from Ellesmere Island to the Torngat Mountains in Quebec, Newfoundland and Labrador. The Appalachian Mountains and the Laurentine Mountains are located in eastern Canada.
Baffin Island is the largest in Canada and the fifth largest in the world.
Canada has the longest coastline of all states at 202,080 kilometers. The 200 nautical mile zone allows the country to have the largest exclusive economic zone in coastal waters, around 3.7 million square kilometers.
