Canada

The land of the maple leaf, lakes and polar bears

Canada is the 2nd biggest country in the world, but only 40 million people live there, because the north is ice and tundra. Canada has 2 million lakes — half of all the lakes in the world! Its flag has a maple leaf, the national sport is ice hockey, and the favourite food is pancakes with maple syrup. In the town of Churchill, polar bears walk the streets. Canadians speak English and French.

Capital: Ottawa. Language: English, French.

Canada covers 9.98 million km² (2nd) with 40 million people (90% within 160 km of the US border), 10 provinces and 3 territories, a constitutional monarchy in the Commonwealth (confederation 1867, full sovereignty 1982). Nature: the world's longest coastline (202,000 km), 2 million lakes (20% of the world's fresh water), the Rockies, the Canadian Shield, the Arctic Archipelago, Niagara, taiga and tundra, 60% forest. History: the Inuit and First Nations, Vikings (AD 1000), France (Quebec 1608), Britain (1763), dominion in 1867. Bilingual: French in Quebec (8 million). Economy: G7, oil (oil sands — 3rd in reserves), forestry, potash, grain, Toronto finance; a leader in quality of life. Culture: hockey, the invention of basketball (Naismith, 1891), insulin (Banting, 1921), the telephone (Bell). Immigration: over 400,000 a year; an Uzbek diaspora in Toronto and Montreal.

Fun facts

• Canada has half of all the world's lakes — 2 million.
• Canada's coastline is 202,000 km — 5 times the length of the equator.
• Basketball and insulin were invented by Canadians.