Geography
Canada is a country of almost unimaginable proportions. It is the second largest country in the world with a size of 10 million square kilometers. This makes Canada 28 times bigger than Germany. If one summarizes all the lakes of Canada, they would correspond to twice the area of ​​Germany. The coastline of Canada measures around 58,000 km. The extent from north to south is = 5,500 km and from west to east = 4,600 km.

economy
Canada has a highly developed economy and has enormous natural resources with huge energy reserves. Main trading partners are the USA. Next come the Commonwealth, the EU, Japan and the CIS. Commodity trading is Canada’s great strength. The manufacturing industry in the east of the country is the main source of income. As a result, almost one-third of Canadians live in metropolitan areas around Ontario and Quebec. The service sector is the fastest growing sector.

politics
Canada is a federal state with a separation of powers between the national government and the governments of the ten individual provinces.

religion
The population is 88% Christian, of which 47% are Roman Catholics and 41% belong to the many Protestant denominations. In addition, due to the high immigration quota, there are various other faiths such as: Buddhists, Muslims, Mennorites, Mormons, Greeks etc.

population
Around 30 million people live in Kanda. That is not even half compared to Germany. Two-thirds live in the eastern provinces. The largest city is Toronto. 4.3 million people live here alone. The second largest city is Montreal (3.4 million) followed by Vancouver with 1.8 million inhabitants. In Ottawa, the capital live about 1.0 million people. This brings 3 Canadians to one square kilometer. 77% of Canadians live in the big cities. Canada is a classic immigration country. Through the nations pool but also the problems are increasing more and more.

Canada’s climate is divided by the continental location into Arctic and temperate zones. The largest part of the country has pronounced and dry-hot summers and very cold but mostly sunny winters. These times last at least five months.

If you go further north, the seasons of spring and autumn are shorter and the further you go north. Here, these seasons are limited to two to three months. In winter, the arctic climate with its cold air fronts makes itself felt far into the southern parts of the country.

In the summer, temperatures in the southern regions of Canada are often up to + 35 ° Celsius due to the warm air fronts from the Gulf of Mexico. However, in the northern parts of the country, summer temperatures average + 15 ° during the day. These can sink at night to below freezing.

In winter, the temperatures fall on average -5 ° to + 10 ° in the south and + 5 ° to -40 ° in the north of the country.

Temperatures on the milder southern Pacific coast of British Columbia are usually above freezing. In winter, heavy snowfall occurs in all parts of the country except Nova Scotia.

Canada’s animal species find a rich habitat in the large forest areas.

Here live numerous smaller species such as rabbits, hares, squirrels and foxes but also the larger species such as bears, moose and porcupines.

Forest buffalo still live in the national parks. Mountain sheep and goats hide in the mountain forests. In addition, there are Waipiti deer. Even the grizzly bears weighing up to 800 kilos can be found there.

In the northern areas on the edge of the Arctic are numerous species of fur such as stoats, mink, wolverines and wolves native.

In the Subarctic, caribou and musk ox remain. The caribou live in large herds, often with several hundred thousand animals. In summer millions of migratory birds are found here.

Polar bears, seals, walruses and whales live off the Arctic coast.

However, this vast wildlife population must not hide the fact that resources themselves are limited here.

The fish stocks in the world’s richest fishing grounds, the continental shelf off the coast of Newfoundland, have already returned alarmingly.

The wildlife in the forests is steadily decreasing. The exploitation of rainforest on the west coast of Canada further limits the wildlife habitat.

Due to industrial use, the pollution of the large lakes has reached such proportions that only 2% of the total lake population has drinking water quality.

But there has already been a rethinking in the exploitation of nature. The deforestation of the forests is now subject to strict quotas. Tougher environmental laws are to reduce the poisoning of the waters.

To what extent these measures are sufficient to reverse the negative trend, the future will show.

Half of Canada’s surface is covered with forests. In southwestern Ontario one finds partly pure deciduous forest.

In the area of ​​large lakes, mixed forest predominates. It consists of beeches, oaks, elms, firs and pines, not to mention the maple (sugar maple), which is needed to extract the maple syrup.

In the northern regions there is a belt of pure coniferous forest about 6,000 kilometers long, consisting of firs, spruces and pines. Here is the largest forest area on earth. At an altitude of 2000 meters above the tree line this turns into alpine flora.

In the rainy areas of the west coast is a veritable tropical forest. There are also ferns and giant cedar trees here.

In the south of the country, the prairie grass prevails due to the long dry seasons in the prairies. This can save the rainwater with its close-meshed roots and thus prevents soil erosion. In some coastal areas you can even find cacti.

High in the north of the country is due to the cold winter and the permanent frost no comprehensive tree population can be found. Here are mainly cripples and pastures available.

In the tundra of the north, only alpine flowers and grasses and lichens are to be found.

Early History – The first settlement occurred about 15,000 years ago over a land bridge between Siberia and Alaska.

1000 – The Vikings populate Newfoundland for a short time.

1497 – John Cabots (Giovanni Caboto from Venice – in British service) lands in Labrador or Newfoundland.

1534/35 – Jacques Cartier carries out a land acquisition for France on the peninsula Gaspésie and the upper St. Lawrence River.

1608 – Québec City and Montreal are founded (1642) by the French (Samuel de Champlain and de Maisonneuve).

1663 – the merger of the settlement areas into the colony “Nouvelle France” takes place.

1670 – the establishment of the Hudson’s Bay Company by English noblemen: English settlers come later. This leads to Anglo-French rivalries and disputes over fishing rights and fur trade.

1840 – Ontario (Upper Canada) and Quebec (Lower Canada) are united to the self-governing “Canada”.

01.07.1867 – Canada becomes “Dominion of Canada” under the British North America Act together with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick, and between 1870 and 1905 the provinces of Prince Edward Island, Manitoba, British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and 1949 extended to Newfoundland (after referendum).

1931 – Kanda receives Dominion Status (Westminster Statute)

1980 – Referendum in Quebec has as a result the whereabouts of the province in Canada.

17.04.1982 – Canada receives full sovereignty (Canada Act of the British Parliament). The new constitution also applies to the province of Quebec.

1987 – the Meech Lake Agreement takes place. This is a reform plan by the conservative government Mulroney regarding the status of Quebec (failed in 1990 due to the rejection of the provinces of Manitoba and Newfoundland).

Dec. 26, 1992 – A referendum reveals that 54% of Canadians – including a majority in Quebec – oppose Charlottetown Accord, a concept to empower provinces and create a special status for Quebec.

1993 – The separatist Bloc Québécois wins an electoral victory in the federal elections (54 seats strongest opposition party in the Federal Parliament). & Gt;

30.10.1995 – a second referendum on Quebec’s independence: the result is a narrow majority in favor of remaining in Canada (50.6 to 49.4%).

01.04.1999 – the foundation of the territory Nunavut

28.06.2004 – The result of the federal elections: minority government of the Liberals led by Prime Minister Paul Martin

Some believe that in Canada there is only hamburger, beefsteak and paper coffee. That’s not true.

The Canadians are z. B. real artists in preparing tasty salads.

They create wonderful desserts.

There are a variety of “burgers” that are related only in name to the hamburger.

Immigrants from Italy, India, China etc. imported their food.

So you will find in almost all places in Canada many specialty restaurants from these countries.

A special feature in Canada are the so-called “Free Refills” (free refills) of cheap drinks such. As coffee or soft drinks.

In the big cities there are thousands of offers of memorable delicious cuisine. Urban lovers of good food frequent bistros, pubs and cafes, offering everything from home-cooked food in mostly full pubs to gourmet masterpieces in fine restaurants.