LAND & PEOPLE

Canada is the second oldest federal democracy in the world. It is also one of the most multicultural societies on earth due to a high level of immigration that continues to affect the makeup of its people. Its history and geography have profoundly influenced the way Canadians live and think.

GEOGRAPHICAL SNAPSHOT

The Canadian psyche is deeply influenced by the vast size of its territory and the extremes of its climate. Canada is the second-largest country in the world, in total area, after Russia. It is also the second-most sparsely populated country in the world, after Australia. It stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, spanning six time zones. To the north is the Arctic Ocean and to the south are 5,592 miles (9,000 km) of uninterrupted border with the United States. From coast to coast there are vast forests, breathtaking mountains, flat, open plains, and thousands of lakes and rivers. In terms of fresh water, Canada is the richest country in the world.

Six Geographic Regions

The eastern coast of Canada is known as the Appalachian region, and includes the provinces of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia, as well as a part of Quebec south of the St. Lawrence River known as the Gaspé Peninsula. The region is mainly forested, hilly, and sparsely populated.

Moving from east to west, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Lowlands region corresponds to the southern half of the provinces of Ontario and Quebec. This area is home to more than half of Canada's population, and is an important agricultural and manufacturing center. This is where most of the country's largest cities are found. It is also home to the Niagara Falls and the Great Lakes, which form the largest group of freshwater lakes in the world and contain 20 percent of the planet's fresh surface water.

Still further west are the interior (or Great) Plains. This region runs through the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta. Once vast plains, the region is now Canada's wheat basket and largest source of petroleum and natural gas.

The fourth region is the Western Cordillera, which straddles Alberta and British Columbia, making its way up through the Yukon Territory. Here, the Rocky Mountains provide a top-quality, four-season tourist attraction for nature and sports enthusiasts.

To the north there are two geographic regions: the Canadian Shield and the Arctic Archipelago. The Canadian Shield, stretching across northern Quebec, Ontario, and Manitoba is a wild, remote area covered with forests and dotted with lakes and rivers. The land in the arctic region, where no trees grow because of the cold and dry temperatures, is known as tundra, where the top layer of soil is permafrost — it is frozen all year-round.

CLIMATE

It is a myth that it is always cold in Canada. In fact, the seasonal (and daily) variation in weather conditions is probably one reason why the weather is the favorite topic of conversation across the country. It is unpredictable, quirky, sometimes extreme, and never "just right."

Roughly speaking, the warmest temperatures across the country are found in the south along the border with the USA. This is also, incidentally, the area where most Canadians live. From east to west, the eastern provinces get the most snow in the winter and have the coolest summers; the prairies get the coldest winters; British Columbia has the mildest summers and the mildest winters, but the highest humidity and rainfall.

One of the pleasures of the Canadian climate is the seasonal variety; visually, emotionally, and in terms of one's wardrobe, it creates a feeling of constant renewal and change.

Summers everywhere are generally warm and pleasant. The warmest regions are in the southern areas of British Columbia (for instance in Vancouver), and in southern Ontario. Every year usually brings a few weeks of hot weather of around 86°F (30°C). This can be unpleasant in Toronto, where the humidity makes the city muggy and sticky. Evenings everywhere are generally cool, making warm sweaters essential if you plan to be out of doors.

Fall is a particularly beautiful time in Canada, when the leaves of the maple trees change color, turning the countryside, particularly in the eastern St. Lawrence area, into a painter's paradise. There is a crisp freshness in the air, and a sense of busy preparation for the long months of hibernation to come.

Canadian winters are long, and the further north you go the longer, colder, and darker they get. Even along the southernmost band of the country, winter temperatures are usually below 32°F (0°C). In Yellowknife the average winter temperature is -18.4°F (-28°C), and in Toronto it is 19.4°F (-7°C). Every winter has its cold streak for a week or more, with temperatures of 0°F (-18°C) or colder. Snowfall, particularly east of Toronto, can be very heavy — an irritant for car drivers but a bonanza for outdoor sports enthusiasts.

And after a long winter, spring is wet and muddy, but the explosion of nature's renewal puts everyone in a good mood.

THE PEOPLE

There are more than 35.5 million Canadians living in almost 3.85 million square miles (almost 10 million sq. km) of territory. Of course, people are not all spread out evenly over the whole country: 80 percent of the population live in urban centers, and 75 percent live within a hundred miles (160 km) of the border with the United States. But people who live in St. John's, Newfoundland, are 3,135 miles (5,045 km) from those living in Vancouver — considerably further away than people who live in London are from those in Tehran — 2,738 miles (4,406 km).

And there is also the country's diversity in terms of "cultures of origin." The French and British arrived in the east first, but, starting from 1885, the railroad permitted successive waves of immigrants to buy cheap land and create towns from ethnically diverse communities. Each year the number of immigrants to Canada amounts to around one percent of the total population. Today, the Canadian population is made up of more than two hundred ethnic groups and approximately 20 percent of the population are foreign-born.

Language and Identity

There are two official languages in most of Canada: English and French. In the three northern territories indigenous languages are also officially recognized.

According to the 2011 Census, three quarters of all Canadians use English as their main language and just over 23 percent use French, leaving around 1.8 percent who speak neither French nor English. Native English speakers are known as Anglophones (59 percent); native French speakers are Francophones (23 percent). The remaining fifth of Canadians are Allophones whose mother tongue is...