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CANADA
Geography
 In the Northern Hemisphere, in the northern part of the North American continent
 The USA in the south, the Pacific Ocean and Alaska in the west, the Arctic Ocean in
the north, the Atlantic Ocean in the east
 The second largest country by area in the world
 Divided into seven regions with different landscape and climate
- The Pacific Coast – moderate climate (British Columbia and Vancouver Island)
- The Cordillera – made up of the Rocky Mountains, the Coast Mountains and other
ranges going from north to south of the west
- The Prairies – the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba (grain
production, deposits of oil, natural gas)
- The Canadian Shield – area of Hudson Bay (storehouse of minerals such as gold,
silver, zinc, copper etc.
- The Great Lakes – area of St. Lawrence Lowlands, Southern Quebec and Ontario,
industrial heart with two largest cities, Montreal and Toronto, 50% of Canadians
live here
- The Atlantic Provinces – Appalachian Region (going through New Brunswick,
Nova Scotia, Quebec, Newfoundland) was the first to be settled by Europeans,
rich fishing area around the area of Newfoundland
- The Arctic – area of tundra, short summers with continuous daylight and long,
severe winters
 Area of Great Lakes (Lake Superior, L. Ontario, L.Erie, L. Huron + L. Michigan in the
USA) on the south and other lakes further north (Lake Winnipeg, Great Slave Lake,
Great Bear Lake)
 The highest peak Mt. Logan (almost 6000 metres) in Yukon
 Diversity of animal species (the beaver, the moose, the grizzly bear, and the coyote)
History

Dates 25, 000 years back, 1,000 ago Icelandic Norsemen settled for a short time on
the island of Newfoundland
 1497 John Cabot (Italian) claimed the land for the English Crown
 1534 Jacques Cartier (French) took possession of the territory along the St. Lawrence
river in the name of French King
 Rivalry between France and Britain
 1st July 1867 Canadian Confederation officially proclaimed (four provinces – Quebec,
Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia), it became a dominion of the United Kingdom
(independent except for the foreign affairs)
 1982 Canada formally separated from the United Kingdom
Political system
 Constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary democracy but also a federal state
 Reigning monarch Queen Elizabeth II represented by Governor General (for 5 years)
 Parliament composed of the Queen, the Senate and the House of Commons
 Executive power in hands of the Cabinet, under the direction of the Prime Minister
 Two official languages
 Consists of 10 provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick,
Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan)
and three territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon, Nunavut)
 Capital city Ottawa
Culture
 Multiculturalism (British, French, aboriginal influences)

 Michael Ondaatje, the author of The English Patient, the first Canadian to win the
Man Booker Prize (1992), Margaret Atwood won it in 2000 for The Blind Assassin
 James Cameron (Aliens, The Terminator, Titanic, Avatar), Academy Award winner,
originally from Canada
 Famous actors of Canadian origin are Jim Carrey, Dan Aykroyd (Ghostbusters)
 Celine Dion (French-Canadian singer) became Canada's best-selling music artist
 Other famous names in music include Leonard Cohen, Shania Twain, band Rush
 Ice-hockey and lacrosse are official national sports, curling is popular too
 host of the 2010Winter Olympics in Vancouver
Sources: http://en.wikipedia.org
T.Chudý, J. Chudá: Some Basic Facts, Fragment, Havlíčkův Brod 1996
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eY8L21Rk-rg