About Canada

Canada is a country consisting of ten provinces and three territories, located in the northern part of the North American continent; it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. Canada is the world’s second-largest country by total area, and shares its southern border with the United States. This is the world’s longest land border shared by the two countries.

Historically Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. British and French colonial expeditions started arriving in the beginning of late 15th century. They later started settling in the Atlantic coastal regions. France ceded nearly all of its colonies in North America to the United Kingdom in 1763. By 1867, with the union of three British North American colonies through Confederation, Canada was formed as a federal dominion of four provinces. This began an accretion of provinces and territories and a process of increasing autonomy, culminating in the Canada Act 1982.

Canada is a parliamentary democracy with Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. English and French are Canada’s official languages and it is multicultural at the federal level. A population of about 35 million supports Canada’s advanced economy which is one of the largest in the world. Canada’s economy relies predominantly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed trade networks especially with the United States with which it has a strong cultural and economic relationship.

Canada ranks among the highest in international measurements of education, government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, and economic freedom. It is a member of many international institutions, including the G7, G8, G20, NATO, NAFTA, OECD, WTO, Commonwealth of Nations, Francophonie, OAS, APEC, and the United Nations.