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Canada: A Regional Geography David Rossiter, Western Washington University A Northern Silver Mine – F. Carmichael Five Themes • Location – relative / absolute • Place – human / physical • Human-Environment interactions – adaptation, modification, dependence • Movement • Regions YK NWT NVT NFLD and LAB BC ALTA SASK MTBA QUE ONT PEI NB NS Whitehorse Iqaluit Yellowknife St. John’s Edmonton Vancouver Saskatoon Charlottetown Victoria Calgary Winnipeg Regina Fredericton Quebec Ottawa St. John Montreal Toronto Halifax The Physical Base • • • • • Geology Topography Soils Vegetation Climate • Fundamental to understanding Canada’s Human Geography The Late Wisconsin Ice Age • • • • Last ice age in the territory of Canada Southern limit: Wisconsin Covered vast majority of Canada’s territory Reached maximum extent 18,000 years ago • Started to recede 15,000 years ago • Last remnants in Rockies 7,000 years ago Till and erratic – Peggy’s Cove, N.S. Drumlin - Alberta Esker - Manitoba Glacial Lake – Jasper, AB Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands Q W - Quebec City to Windsor - Smallest physiographic region: < 2% of Canada’s landmass Great Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands • Geology: sedimentary rock (strata) and glacial deposits • Flat, rolling topography • Good soil • Moderate climate, good growing season – humid and hot summer / cold winter • Proximity to USA • HEARTLAND Appalachian Uplands Appalachian Uplands • Northern section of Appalachian Mountians • ~2% of Canada’s land mass • Rounded uplands and narrow river valleys • Rocky, shallow soils • Mixed forest • Cool, maritime climate – short summer, wet winter NFLD – North Coast Canadian Shield Canadian Shield • Largest region – ~50% of Canada • Geological core of North America – Underlies other physiographic regions • • • • • Precambrian rocks > 3 billion yrs old Widespread evidence of glaciation Shallow soils, exposed granite Mixed and Boreal forest Northern continental climate – hot, short summer / cold, long winter Quebec – North Shore Hudson Bay Lowlands Hudson Bay Lowlands • • • • ~3.5% of the area of Canada Youngest phyisographic region in Canada Made up of muskeg (wet peatland) Interrupted by low ridges of sand and gravel • Poorly drained due to level surface • Northern climate – maritime influence – short, warm summer / long, cold winter Muskeg – Hudson Bay Lowlands Delta – James Bay Coast Interior Plains Interior Plains • ~20% of Canada’s landmass • Geologic base of sedimentary rock • Land shaped by glacial and hydrological processes – river valleys • Slope east to west – Hudson Bay Wtshd • Rich soils in south • Oil and gas deposits • Continental climate – moderate precip. – hot summer / cold winter Wheat field outside Winnipeg Near Lesser Slave Lake, Alberta South Saskatchewan River Arctic Lands Arctic Lands cont’d… • • • • • • • • ~25% of Canada’s territory Coastal plains (Lowlands) Plateaux and mountains (Innuitian) Mainly sedimentary rock Ground permanently frozen - permafrost Glaciers still active – ‘calved’ into icebergs Main geomorphic process – frost action Coooold, areas of polar desert Mountains – Baffin Island Cordillera Cordillera • ~16% of Canada’s territory • Formed 40-80 million years ago – collision between NA and Pacific plates – Rockies: up-thrust sedimentary rocks – Coast mountains: volcanic activity • Coast an active fault zone – earthquakes, volcanoes – part of Pacific Rim of Fire Cordillera cont’d… • Glaciers remain in high alpine areas • Fertile river valleys and deltas (particularly SW corner of BC) • Largely coniferous forest cover • Multiple micro-climates – warmer, wetter on coast – colder, drier in interior Sedimentary rocks at Lake Louise The Barrier – Coast Mountains, BC Where are all the people? Short answer: • In cities, near the USA – ~80% of Canadians live in cities (100,000+) – ~80% of Canadians live within 100km of USA Pop. Density: 2001 Current Pop: 32mil Where are all the people? Longer answer: • All over – cities draw on resources of hinterland – north dominated by resource towns and regional service centres Three Popular Explanations • Staples Development – Canada developed by resource extraction • Heartland-hinterland patterns – International, national, regional scales • Physical disunity (or, unity despite geography) – Human settlement in patches, difference from USA Storehouse of Raw Materials • “Hewers of wood and drawers of water” • Earliest European interests were more commercial than colonial – fish, fur • Colonial settlement shaped by staples extraction and export • Trade with “mother countries” (Britain, France), then USA • Resources still major economic sector Forestry Communities: 1996 Mining Communities: 1996 Oil and Gas Communities: 1996 Metropolitan Heartlands • A urban nation – against stereotype – diverse • Old(ish) – Quebec City (1608) • Young – Vancouver (1886) • Draw on hinterland’s resources – insurance, finance, manufacturing Financial Services Canada’s Regional Character • Socio-economic regions: – Shaped by: • • • • topography political boundaries language historical patterns • Heartland-hinterland relations • Regional identities powerful – Political considerations This place wasn’t always Canada • 1000s of years of Native presence • European contact over centuries – late-15th C in east, mid-18th C in west • Resettlement by Europeans through: – force – treaty – depopulation (disease) • Historical geographies matter: socially, politically, ecologically Current “Geographical” Issues • Native land claims – BC particularly, but not exclusively • Environmental “crises” – forestry, climate, energy • Federal “balance” – fiscal, other arrangements • Cities’ growth – planning, opportunity for newcomers References • Maps and images were obtained at: – www.canadainfolink.ca/geog.htm – http://atlas.nrcan.gc/site/english/index.html • Other resources: – A good atlas of Canada – Historical Atlas of Canada, vols. 1-3, University of Toronto Press – The Fur Trade in Canada, Harold Innis – Heartland and Hinterland, McCann and Gunn