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Canada
Flag of Canada
Motto: "A Mari Usque Ad Mare" (language?) "From Sea to Sea" (As seen on the Arms of Canada)
Anthem: "O Canada"
Projection of North America with Canada in green
Capital		Ottawa 45°24′N 75°40′W / 45.400°N 75.667°W / 45.400; -75.667{{#coordinates:45|24|N|75|40|W|type:country|| | |name= }}
Largest city		Toronto
Official languages		English French
Recognised regional languages		Chipewyan Cree Gwich’in Inuinnaqtun Inuktitut Inuvialuktun North Slavey South Slavey Tłı̨chǫ
Ethnic groups		Script error
Demonym		Canadian
Government		{{{1}}}
-	Monarch	Elizabeth II
-	Governor General	David Johnston
-	Prime Minister	Stephen Harper
-	Chief Justice	Beverley McLachlin
Legislature		Parliament
-	Upper house	Senate
-	Lower house	House of Commons
Establishment from the United Kingdom
-	Constitution Act	July 1, 1867
-	Statute of Westminster	December 11, 1931
-	Canada Act	April 17, 1982
Area
-	Total	9,984,670 km2 (2nd) 3,854,085 sq mi
-	Water (%)	8.92 (891,163 km2 / 344,080 mi2)
Population
-	Q4 2014 estimate	35,675,834 <ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> (37th)
-	2011 census	33,476,688<ref name="StatsCan-2011Census">Script error</ref>
-	Density	3.41/km2 (228th) 8.3/sq mi
GDP (PPP)		Q3 2014 estimate
-	Total	$1.578 Trillion <ref name=imf2/> (15th)
-	Per capita	$44,519 <ref name=imf2/> (19th)
GDP (nominal)		2014 estimate
-	Total	{{{1}}} (11th)
-	Per capita	$50,577<ref name=imf2/> (13th)
Gini (2010)		33.7<ref>Script error</ref> medium · 103rd<ref>Script error</ref>
HDI (2013)		0.902<ref>Script error</ref> very high · 8th
Currency		Canadian dollar ($) (CAD)
Time zone		(UTC−3.5 to −8)
-	Summer (DST)	(UTC−2.5 to −7)
Date format		Script error
Drives on the		right
Calling code		+1
Internet TLD		.ca

Canada (Listenⁱ/ˈkænədə/) is a country in North America consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic to the Pacific and northward into the Arctic Ocean. At 9.98 million square kilometres in total, Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area and the fourth-largest country by land area. Its common border with the United States forms the world's longest land border.

The land that is now Canada has been inhabited for millennia by various Aboriginal peoples. Beginning in the late 15th century, British and French colonies were established on the region's Atlantic coast. As a consequence of various conflicts, the United Kingdom gained and lost North American territories until left, in the late 18th century, with what mostly comprises Canada today. Pursuant to the British North America Act, on July 1, 1867, three colonies joined to form the autonomous federal Dominion of Canada. This began an accretion of provinces and territories to the new self-governing Dominion. In 1931, Britain granted Canada near total independence with the Statute of Westminster 1931 and full sovereignty was attained when the Canada Act 1982 severed the vestiges of legal dependence on the British parliament.

Canada is a federal parliamentary democracy and a constitutional monarchy, Queen Elizabeth II being the current head of state. Canada is a member of the Commonwealth of Nations. The country is officially bilingual at the federal level. It is one of the world's most ethnically diverse and multicultural nations, the product of large-scale immigration from many countries, with a population of approximately 35 million as of December 2012. Its advanced economy is one of the largest in the world, relying chiefly upon its abundant natural resources and well-developed trade networks. Canada's long and complex relationship with the United States has had a significant impact on its economy and culture.

Canada is a developed country and one of the wealthiest in the world, with the eighth highest per capita income globally, and the eighth highest ranking in the Human Development Index. It ranks among the highest in international measurements of government transparency, civil liberties, quality of life, economic freedom, and education, and stands among the world's most educated countries – ranking first worldwide in the number of adults having tertiary education with 51% of adults having attained at least an undergraduate college or university degree (according to the OECD 2012 survey).<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Canada's participation in economic international and intergovernmental institutions or groupings includes the G8 (Group of Eight); the Group of Ten (economic); the Group of Twenty (G-20 major economies); the North American Free Trade Agreement; and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum. Canada's alliances include the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

Etymology

The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".<ref name="OlsonShadle1991">Script error</ref> In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona.<ref name="Rayburn2001"/> Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village, but the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona);<ref name="Rayburn2001">Script error</ref> by 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this region as Canada.<ref name="Rayburn2001"/>

In the 17th and early 18th centuries, "Canada" referred to the part of New France that lay along the St. Lawrence River.<ref name="Magocsi1999as">Script error</ref> To punish the resistance of the Thirteen Colonies, Canada's territory was vastly expanded by the British in the 1774 Quebec Act to include unsettled territory in the Great Lakes region down to the Ohio river.<ref name="GreenePole2008z">Script error</ref> Part of this arbitrarily added territory was turned over to the new United States in 1783, but all land north of the Great Lakes (making up much of modern Ontario) was retained by British Canada. In 1791 the British designated this region Upper Canada and the traditional French-speaking portion Lower Canada, they were reunified as the Province of Canada in 1841.<ref name="Rayburn2001"/>

Upon Confederation in 1867, Canada was adopted as the legal name for the new country, and the word Dominion was conferred as the country's title.<ref>Script error</ref> However, as Canada asserted its political autonomy from the United Kingdom, the federal government increasingly used simply Canada on state documents and treaties, a change that was reflected in the renaming of the national holiday from Dominion Day to Canada Day in 1982.<ref name=buckner>Script error</ref>

History

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Aboriginal peoples

Aboriginal peoples in present-day Canada include the First Nations, Inuit, and Métis.<ref name="GraberKuprecht2012">Script error</ref> The Métis are a mixed-blood people who originated in the mid-17th century when First Nations and Inuit people married European settlers.<ref name="GraberKuprecht2012"/> Archaeological studies and genetic analyses have indicated a human presence in the northern Yukon region from 13,000–12,000 BC, and in southern Ontario from 7500 BC.<ref name="CordellLightfoot2008">Script error</ref><ref name="Pauketat2012">Script error</ref> These first settlers entered Canada through Beringia by way of the Bering land bridge.<ref name="Dillehay2008">Script error</ref> The Paleo-Indian archeological sites at Old Crow Flats and Bluefish Caves are two of the oldest sites of human habitation in Canada.<ref name="DirectorPresident1997">Script error</ref> The characteristics of Canadian Aboriginal societies included permanent settlements, agriculture, complex societal hierarchies, and trading networks.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Some of these cultures had collapsed by the time European explorers arrived in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, and have only been discovered through archeological investigations.<ref>Script error</ref>

The aboriginal population at the time of the first European settlements is estimated to have been between 200,000<ref name="dying"/> and two million,<ref name=Steckel>Script error</ref> with a figure of 500,000 accepted by Canada's Royal Commission on Aboriginal Peoples.<ref>Script error </ref> As a consequence of the European colonization, Canada's aboriginal peoples suffered from repeated outbreaks of newly introduced infectious diseases such as influenza, measles, and smallpox (to which they had no natural immunity), resulting in a forty to eighty percent population decrease in the centuries after the European arrival.<ref name="dying">Script error</ref>

Although not without conflict, European Canadians' early interactions with First Nations and Inuit populations were relatively peaceful.<ref name="Preston2009">Script error</ref> The Crown and Aboriginal peoples began interactions during the European colonialization period. In general, the Inuit had more limited interaction with European settlers during this period.<ref>Script error</ref> From the late 18th century, European Canadians encouraged Aboriginals to assimilate into their own culture, referred to as "Canadian culture".<ref name="Asch1997">Script error</ref> These attempts reached a climax in the late 19th and early 20th centuries with forced integration and relocations.<ref name="KirmayerValaskakis2009">Script error</ref>

European colonization

The first known attempt at European colonization began when Norsemen settled briefly at L'Anse aux Meadows in Newfoundland around 1000 AD.<ref> Script error</ref> No further European exploration occurred until 1497, when Italian seafarer John Cabot explored Canada's Atlantic coast for England.<ref>Script error</ref> Basque and Portuguese mariners established seasonal whaling and fishing outposts along the Atlantic coast in the early 16th century.<ref name=hornsby/> In 1534, French explorer Jacques Cartier explored the St. Lawrence River, where on July 24 he planted a 10-metre (33 ft) cross bearing the words "Long Live the King of France", and took possession of the territory in the name of King Francis I.<ref name=CartierBiggar1993>Script error</ref>

In 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert claimed St. John's, Newfoundland, as the first North American English colony by the royal prerogative of Queen Elizabeth I.<ref name=Rose2007>Script error</ref> French explorer Samuel de Champlain arrived in 1603, and established the first permanent European settlements at Port Royal in 1605 and Quebec City in 1608.<ref name="KelleyTrebilcock2010">Script error</ref> Among the French colonists of New France, Canadiens extensively settled the St. Lawrence River valley and Acadians settled the present-day Maritimes, while fur traders and Catholic missionaries explored the Great Lakes, Hudson Bay, and the Mississippi watershed to Louisiana.<ref name="LaMar1977b">Script error</ref> The Beaver Wars broke out in the mid-17th century over control of the North American fur trade.<ref name="TuckerArnold2011">Script error</ref>

The English established additional colonies in Cupids and Ferryland, Newfoundland, beginning in 1610.<ref name=BucknerReid1994>Script error</ref> The Thirteen Colonies to the south were founded soon after.<ref name=hornsby>Script error</ref> A series of four wars erupted in colonial North America between 1689 and 1763; the later wars of the period constituted the North American theatre of the Seven Years' War.<ref name=Nolan2008>Script error</ref> Mainland Nova Scotia came under British rule with the 1713 Treaty of Utrecht; the Treaty of Paris (1763) ceded Canada and most of New France to Britain after the Seven Years' War.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The Royal Proclamation of 1763 created the Province of Quebec out of New France, and annexed Cape Breton Island to Nova Scotia.<ref name=buckner/> St. John's Island (now Prince Edward Island) became a separate colony in 1769.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> To avert conflict in Quebec, the British passed the Quebec Act of 1774, expanding Quebec's territory to the Great Lakes and Ohio Valley.<ref name="Nellis2010a">Script error</ref> It re-established the French language, Catholic faith, and French civil law there. This angered many residents of the Thirteen Colonies, fuelling anti-British sentiment in the years prior to the 1775 outbreak of the American Revolution.<ref name=buckner/>

The 1783 Treaty of Paris recognized American independence and ceded the newly added territories south (but not north) of the Great Lakes to the new United States.<ref name=LeahyWilson2009>Script error</ref> New Brunswick was split from Nova Scotia as part of a reorganization of Loyalist settlements in the Maritimes. To accommodate English-speaking Loyalists in Quebec, the Constitutional Act of 1791 divided the province into French-speaking Lower Canada (later Quebec) and English-speaking Upper Canada (later Ontario), granting each its own elected legislative assembly.<ref>Script error</ref>

The Canadas were the main front in the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain. Following the war, large-scale immigration to Canada from Britain and Ireland began in 1815.<ref name=Steckel/> Between 1825 and 1846, 626,628 European immigrants reportedly landed at Canadian ports.<ref>Script error</ref> These included Irish immigrants escaping the Great Irish Famine as well as Gaelic-speaking Scots displaced by the Highland Clearances.<ref>Script error</ref> Infectious diseases killed between 25 and 33 per cent of Europeans who immigrated to Canada before 1891.<ref name="dying"/>

The desire for responsible government resulted in the abortive Rebellions of 1837. The Durham Report subsequently recommended responsible government and the assimilation of French Canadians into English culture.<ref name=buckner/> The Act of Union 1840 merged the Canadas into a united Province of Canada. Responsible government was established for all British North American provinces by 1849.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The signing of the Oregon Treaty by Britain and the United States in 1846 ended the Oregon boundary dispute, extending the border westward along the 49th parallel. This paved the way for British colonies on Vancouver Island (1849) and in British Columbia (1858).<ref>Script error</ref>

Confederation and expansion

Following several constitutional conferences, the 1867 Constitution Act officially proclaimed Canadian Confederation on July 1, 1867, initially with four provinces: Ontario, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick.<ref name=DijkinkKnippenberg2001>Script error</ref><ref name=bothwell> Script error</ref> Canada assumed control of Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory to form the Northwest Territories, where the Métis' grievances ignited the Red River Rebellion and the creation of the province of Manitoba in July 1870.<ref>Script error</ref> British Columbia and Vancouver Island (which had been united in 1866) joined the Confederation in 1871, while Prince Edward Island joined in 1873.<ref name=canatlas>Script error</ref>

Prime Minister John A. Macdonald and his Conservative government established a National Policy of tariffs to protect the nascent Canadian manufacturing industries.<ref name=bothwell/> To open the West, the government sponsored the construction of three transcontinental railways (including the Canadian Pacific Railway), opened the prairies to settlement with the Dominion Lands Act, and established the North-West Mounted Police to assert its authority over this territory.<ref>Script error </ref><ref>Script error</ref> In 1898, during the Klondike Gold Rush in the Northwest Territories, the Canadian government created the Yukon Territory. Under the Liberal Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier, continental European immigrants settled the prairies, and Alberta and Saskatchewan became provinces in 1905.<ref name=canatlas />

Early 20th century

Because Britain still maintained control of Canada's foreign affairs under the Confederation Act, its declaration of war in 1914 automatically brought Canada into World War I.<ref name="Tennyson2014a">Script error</ref> Volunteers sent to the Western Front later became part of the Canadian Corps. The Corps played a substantial role in the Battle of Vimy Ridge and other major engagements of the war.<ref name=morton-milhist>Script error</ref> Out of approximately 625,000 Canadians who served in World War I, around 60,000 were killed and another 173,000 were wounded.<ref>Script error</ref> The Conscription Crisis of 1917 erupted when conservative Prime Minister Robert Borden brought in compulsory military service over the vehement objections of French-speaking Quebecers.<ref name="McGonigal1962">Script error</ref> The Conscription Crisis, coupled with disputes over French language schools outside Quebec, deeply alienated Francophone Canadians and temporarily split the Liberal Party.<ref name="McGonigal1962"/> Borden's Unionist government included many Anglophone Liberals, and it swept to a landslide victory in the 1917 elections. In 1919, Canada joined the League of Nations independently of Britain,<ref name=morton-milhist/> the 1931 Statute of Westminster affirmed Canada's independence.<ref name=hail>Template:Cite journal</ref>

The great depression in Canada during the early 1930s saw an economic downturn, leading to hardship across the country.<ref name=Bryce1986>Script error</ref> In response to the downturn, the Co-operative Commonwealth Federation (CCF) in Saskatchewan introduced many elements of a welfare state (as pioneered by Tommy Douglas) in the 1940s and 1950s.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Canada declared war on Germany independently during World War II under Liberal Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King, seven days after Britain. The first Canadian Army units arrived in Britain in December 1939.<ref name=morton-milhist/>

Canadian troops played important roles in many key battles of the war, including the failed 1942 Dieppe Raid, the Allied invasion of Italy, the Normandy landings, the Battle of Normandy, and the Battle of the Scheldt in 1944.<ref name="morton-milhist"/> Canada provided asylum for the Dutch monarchy while that country was occupied, and is credited by the Netherlands for major contributions to its liberation from Nazi Germany.<ref name=netherlands>Script error</ref> The Canadian economy boomed during the war as its industries manufactured military materiel for Canada, Britain, China, and the Soviet Union.<ref name=morton-milhist/> Despite another Conscription Crisis in Quebec in 1944, Canada finished the war with a large army and strong economy.<ref>Script error</ref>

Modern times

The financial crisis of the great depression had led the Dominion of Newfoundland to relinquish responsible government in 1934 and become a crown colony ruled by a British governor. After two bitter referendums, Newfoundlanders voted to join Canada in 1949 as a province.<ref name="Boyer1996">Script error</ref>

Canada's post-war economic growth, combined with the policies of successive Liberal governments, led to the emergence of a new Canadian identity, marked by the adoption of the current Maple Leaf Flag in 1965,<ref>Script error</ref> the implementation of official bilingualism (English and French) in 1969,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the institution of official multiculturalism in 1971.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Socially democratic programs were also instituted, such as Medicare, the Canada Pension Plan, and Canada Student Loans, though provincial governments, particularly Quebec and Alberta, opposed many of these as incursions into their jurisdictions.<ref>Script error</ref>

Finally, another series of constitutional conferences resulted in the 1982 patriation of Canada's constitution from the United Kingdom, concurrent with the creation of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.<ref name=bickerton>Script error</ref> In 1999, Nunavut became Canada's third territory after a series of negotiations with the federal government.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

At the same time, Quebec underwent profound social and economic changes through the Quiet Revolution of the 1960s, giving birth to a modern nationalist movement. The radical Front de libération du Québec (FLQ) ignited the October Crisis with a series of bombings and kidnappings in 1970,<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> and the [[Quebec sovereignty movement|Template:Not a typo]] Parti Québécois was elected in 1976, organizing an unsuccessful referendum on sovereignty-association in 1980. Attempts to accommodate Quebec nationalism constitutionally through the Meech Lake Accord failed in 1990.<ref name=sorens>Template:Cite journal</ref> This led to the formation of the Bloc Québécois in Quebec and the invigoration of the Reform Party of Canada in the West.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> A second referendum followed in 1995, in which sovereignty was rejected by a slimmer margin of 50.6 to 49.4 percent.<ref name="College2001b">Script error</ref> In 1997, the Supreme Court ruled that unilateral secession by a province would be unconstitutional, and the Clarity Act was passed by parliament, outlining the terms of a negotiated departure from Confederation.<ref name=sorens/>

In addition to the issues of Quebec sovereignty, a number of crises shook Canadian society in the late 1980s and early 1990s. These included the explosion of Air India Flight 182 in 1985, the largest mass murder in Canadian history;<ref>Script error</ref> the École Polytechnique massacre in 1989, a university shooting targeting female students;<ref>Script error</ref> and the Oka Crisis of 1990,<ref>Script error</ref> the first of a number of violent confrontations between the government and Aboriginal groups.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada also joined the Gulf War in 1990 as part of a US-led coalition force, and was active in several peacekeeping missions in the 1990s, including the UNPROFOR mission in the former Yugoslavia.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Canada sent troops to Afghanistan in 2001, but declined to join the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In 2009, Canada's economy suffered in the worldwide Great Recession, but it has since rebounded modestly.<ref name=3YearsOn>Script error</ref> In 2011, Canadian forces participated in the NATO-led intervention into the Libyan civil war.<ref>Script error</ref>

Geography

Canada occupies a major northern portion of North America, sharing land borders with the contiguous United States to the south (the longest border between two countries in the world) and the US state of Alaska to the northwest. Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean.<ref name="cia"> Script error</ref> Greenland is to the northeast, while Saint Pierre and Miquelon is south of Newfoundland. By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth.<ref name="cia" /> The country lies between latitudes 41° and 84°N, and longitudes 52° and 141°W.

Since 1925, Canada has claimed the portion of the Arctic between 60° and 141°W longitude,<ref name="West2004">Script error</ref> but this claim is not universally recognized. Canada is home to the world's northernmost settlement, Canadian Forces Station Alert, on the northern tip of Ellesmere Island – latitude 82.5°N – which lies 817 kilometres (508 mi) from the North Pole.<ref>Script error</ref> Much of the Canadian Arctic is covered by ice and permafrost. Canada has the longest coastline in the world, with a total length of 202,080 kilometres (125,570 mi);<ref name="cia"/> additionally, its border with the United States is the world's longest land border, stretching 8,891 kilometres (5,525 mi).<ref>Script error</ref>

Since the end of the last glacial period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal forest on the Canadian Shield.<ref>Script error </ref> Canada has around 31,700 large lakes,<ref>I.e., lakes over 3 square kilometres (300 ha) in area. Script error</ref> more than any other country, containing much of the world's fresh water.<ref>Script error</ref> There are also fresh-water glaciers in the Canadian Rockies and the Coast Mountains. Canada is geologically active, having many earthquakes and potentially active volcanoes, notably Mount Meager, Mount Garibaldi, Mount Cayley, and the Mount Edziza volcanic complex.<ref>Script error</ref> The volcanic eruption of the Tseax Cone in 1775 was among Canada's worst natural disasters, killing 2,000 Nisga'a people and destroying their village in the Nass River valley of northern British Columbia. The eruption produced a 22.5-kilometre (14.0 mi) lava flow, and, according to Nisga'a legend, blocked the flow of the Nass River.<ref name="Asd">Script error</ref> Canada's population density, at 3.3 inhabitants per square kilometre (8.5 /sq mi), is among the lowest in the world. The most densely populated part of the country is the Quebec City – Windsor Corridor, situated in Southern Quebec and Southern Ontario along the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River.<ref name="McMurryShepherd2004">Script error</ref>

Average winter and summer high temperatures across Canada vary from region to region. Winters can be harsh in many parts of the country, particularly in the interior and Prairie provinces, which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near −15 °C (5 °F), but can drop below −40 °C (−40 °F) with severe wind chills.<ref>Script error</ref> In noncoastal regions, snow can cover the ground for almost six months of the year, while in parts of the north snow can persist year-round. Coastal British Columbia has a temperate climate, with a mild and rainy winter. On the east and west coasts, average high temperatures are generally in the low 20s °C (70s °F), while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C (77 to 86 °F), with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C (104 °F).<ref>Script error</ref>Template:Clear right

Government and politics

Canada has a parliamentary system within the context of a constitutional monarchy, the monarchy of Canada being the foundation of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Script error</ref><ref name=MacLeod16>Script error</ref><ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The sovereign is Queen Elizabeth II, who also serves as head of state of 15 other Commonwealth countries and each of Canada's ten provinces. As such, the Queen's representative, the Governor General of Canada (at present David Lloyd Johnston), carries out most of the federal royal duties in Canada.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref>

The direct participation of the royal and viceroyal figures in areas of governance is limited.<ref name=MacLeod16 /><ref name=Forseyp1>Script error</ref><ref name=Montpetit>Script error</ref> In practice, their use of the executive powers is directed by the Cabinet, a committee of ministers of the Crown responsible to the elected House of Commons and chosen and headed by the Prime Minister of Canada (at present Stephen Harper),<ref>Script error</ref> the head of government. The governor general or monarch may, though, in certain crisis situations exercise their power without ministerial advice.<ref name=Forseyp1/> To ensure the stability of government, the governor general will usually appoint as prime minister the person who is the current leader of the political party that can obtain the confidence of a plurality in the House of Commons.<ref>Script error</ref> The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) is thus one of the most powerful institutions in government, initiating most legislation for parliamentary approval and selecting for appointment by the Crown, besides the aforementioned, the governor general, lieutenant governors, senators, federal court judges, and heads of Crown corporations and government agencies.<ref name=Forseyp1/> The leader of the party with the second-most seats usually becomes the Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition (presently Thomas Mulcair) and is part of an adversarial parliamentary system intended to keep the government in check.<ref>Script error</ref>

Each of the 308 members of parliament in the House of Commons is elected by simple plurality in an electoral district or riding. General elections must be called by the governor general, either on the advice of the prime minister, within four years of the previous election, or if the government loses a confidence vote in the House.<ref>Script error</ref> The 105 members of the Senate, whose seats are apportioned on a regional basis, serve until age 75.<ref name="GriffithsNerenberg2003">Script error</ref> Five parties had representatives elected to the federal parliament in the 2011 elections: the Conservative Party of Canada (governing party), the New Democratic Party (the Official Opposition), the Liberal Party of Canada, the Bloc Québécois, and the Green Party of Canada. The list of historical parties with elected representation is substantial.

Canada's federal structure divides government responsibilities between the federal government and the ten provinces. Provincial legislatures are unicameral and operate in parliamentary fashion similar to the House of Commons.<ref name=Montpetit /> Canada's three territories also have legislatures, but these are not sovereign and have fewer constitutional responsibilities than the provinces.<ref>Script error</ref> The territorial legislatures also differ structurally from their provincial counterparts.<ref>Script error</ref>

Law

The Constitution of Canada is the supreme law of the country, and consists of written text and unwritten conventions. The Constitution Act, 1867 (known as the British North America Act prior to 1982), affirmed governance based on parliamentary precedent and divided powers between the federal and provincial governments. The Statute of Westminster 1931 granted full autonomy and the Constitution Act, 1982, ended all legislative ties to the UK, as well as adding a constitutional amending formula and the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Charter guarantees basic rights and freedoms that usually cannot be over-ridden by any government—though a notwithstanding clause allows the federal parliament and provincial legislatures to override certain sections of the Charter for a period of five years.<ref>Script error</ref>

The Indian Act, various treaties and case laws were established to mediate relations between Europeans and native peoples.<ref name=FN>Template:Cite journal</ref> Most notably, a series of eleven treaties known as the Numbered Treaties were signed between Aboriginals in Canada and the reigning Monarch of Canada between 1871 and 1921.<ref>Script error</ref> These treaties are agreements with the Canadian Crown-in-Council, administered by Canadian Aboriginal law, and overseen by the Minister of Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development. The role of the treaties and the rights they support were reaffirmed by Section Thirty-five of the Constitution Act, 1982.<ref name=FN/> These rights may include provision of services such as health care, and exemption from taxation.<ref name="Madison2000">Script error</ref> The legal and policy framework within which Canada and First Nations operate was further formalized in 2005, through the First Nations–Federal Crown Political Accord.<ref name=FN/>

Canada's judiciary plays an important role in interpreting laws and has the power to strike down Acts of Parliament that violate the constitution. The Supreme Court of Canada is the highest court and final arbiter and has been led since 2000 by the Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin (the first female Chief Justice).<ref>Script error</ref> Its nine members are appointed by the governor general on the advice of the prime minister and minister of justice. All judges at the superior and appellate levels are appointed after consultation with nongovernmental legal bodies. The federal Cabinet also appoints justices to superior courts in the provincial and territorial jurisdictions.<ref name="YatesBain2000">Script error</ref>

Common law prevails everywhere except in Quebec, where civil law predominates. Criminal law is solely a federal responsibility and is uniform throughout Canada.<ref>Script error</ref> Law enforcement, including criminal courts, is officially a provincial responsibility, conducted by provincial and municipal police forces.<ref>Script error</ref> However, in most rural areas and some urban areas, policing responsibilities are contracted to the federal Royal Canadian Mounted Police.<ref>Script error</ref>

Foreign relations and military

Canada currently employs a professional, volunteer military force of 68,250 active personnel and approximately 47,081 reserve personnel.<ref>Script error</ref> The unified Canadian Forces (CF) comprise the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and Royal Canadian Air Force. In 2011, Canada's military expenditure totalled approximately C$24.5 billion.<ref>Script error</ref>

Canada and the United States share the world's longest undefended border, co-operate on military campaigns and exercises, and are each other's largest trading partner.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> Canada nevertheless has an independent foreign policy, most notably maintaining full relations with Cuba and declining to officially participate in the 2003 invasion of Iraq. Canada also maintains historic ties to the United Kingdom and France and to other former British and French colonies through Canada's membership in the Commonwealth of Nations and the Francophonie.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada is noted for having a positive relationship with the Netherlands, owing, in part, to its contribution to the Dutch liberation during World War II.<ref name="netherlands"/>

Canada's strong attachment to the British Empire and Commonwealth led to major participation in British military efforts in the Second Boer War, World War I and World War II. Since then, Canada has been an advocate for multilateralism, making efforts to resolve global issues in collaboration with other nations.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Canada was a founding member of the United Nations in 1945 and of NATO in 1949. During the Cold War, Canada was a major contributor to UN forces in the Korean War and founded the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) in co-operation with the United States to defend against potential aerial attacks from the Soviet Union.<ref>Script error</ref>

During the Suez Crisis of 1956, future Prime Minister Lester B. Pearson eased tensions by proposing the inception of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force, for which he was awarded the 1957 Nobel Peace Prize.<ref>Script error</ref> As this was the first UN peacekeeping mission, Pearson is often credited as the inventor of the concept. Canada has since served in 50 peacekeeping missions, including every UN peacekeeping effort until 1989,<ref name="morton-milhist"/> and has since maintained forces in international missions in Rwanda, the former Yugoslavia, and elsewhere; Canada has sometimes faced controversy over its involvement in foreign countries, notably in the 1993 Somalia Affair.<ref>Script error</ref>

Canada joined the Organization of American States (OAS) in 1990 and hosted the OAS General Assembly in Windsor, Ontario, in June 2000 and the third Summit of the Americas in Quebec City in April 2001.<ref name="McKenna2012b">Script error</ref> Canada seeks to expand its ties to Pacific Rim economies through membership in the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC).<ref name="Usaibp">Script error</ref>

In 2001, Canada deployed troops to Afghanistan as part of the US stabilization force and the UN-authorized, NATO-led International Security Assistance Force. In all, Canada lost 158 soldiers, one diplomat, two aid workers, and one journalist during the ten year mission,<ref>Script error</ref> which cost approximately C$11.3 billion.<ref>Script error</ref>

In February 2007, Canada, Italy, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Russia announced their joint commitment to a $1.5-billion project to help develop vaccines for developing nations, and called on other countries to join them.<ref>Script error</ref> In August 2007, Canada's territorial claims in the Arctic were challenged after a Russian underwater expedition to the North Pole; Canada has considered that area to be sovereign territory since 1925.<ref>Script error</ref> Between March and October 2011, Canadian forces participated in a UN-mandated NATO intervention into the 2011 Libyan civil war.<ref>Script error</ref>

International organizations

Canada is recognized as a middle power for its role in international affairs with a tendency to pursue multilateral solutions.<ref name="Chapnick2011">Script error</ref> As well as its membership of the United Nations, the World Trade Organization and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), Canada is a member of regional and other international organizations and forums for economic and cultural affairs.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada acceded to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights in 1976.<ref>Script error</ref>

Provinces and territories

Canada is a federation composed of ten provinces and three territories. In turn, these may be grouped into four main regions: Western Canada, Central Canada, Atlantic Canada, and Northern Canada ("Eastern Canada" refers to Central Canada and Atlantic Canada together). Provinces have more autonomy than territories, having responsibility for social programs such as health care, education, and welfare.<ref name="DoernMaslove2013">Script error</ref> Together, the provinces collect more revenue than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies in provincial areas, such as the Canada Health Act; the provinces can opt out of these, but rarely do so in practice. Equalization payments are made by the federal government to ensure that reasonably uniform standards of services and taxation are kept between the richer and poorer provinces.<ref name="ClemensVeldhuis2007">Script error</ref> Template:Canada image map Template:Clear left

Economy

The Bank of Canada is the central bank of the country and governed by Stephen Poloz. In addition, the Minister of Finance and Ministry of Industry utilize the Statistics Canada system for financial planning. The Toronto Stock Exchange is the seventh largest exchange in the world having 1,577 companies listed in 2012. Canada is the world's eleventh-largest economy, with a 2012 nominal GDP of approximately US$1.82 trillion.<ref name=imf2>Script error</ref> It is a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the Group of Eight (G8), and is one of the world's top ten trading nations, with a highly globalized economy.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Canada is a mixed economy, ranking above the US and most western European nations on the Heritage Foundation's index of economic freedom,<ref>Script error</ref> and experiencing a relatively low level of income disparity.<ref>Script error</ref> In 2008, Canada's imported goods were worth over $442.9 billion, of which $280.8 billion originated from the United States, $11.7 billion from Japan, and $11.3 billion from the United Kingdom.<ref name="import-export">Script error</ref> The country's 2009 trade deficit totalled C$4.8 billion, compared with a C$46.9 billion surplus in 2008.<ref>Script error</ref>

Since the early 20th century, the growth of Canada's manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy to an urbanized, industrial one. Like many other developed nations, the Canadian economy is dominated by the service industry, which employs about three-quarters of the country's workforce.<ref>Script error</ref> However, Canada is unusual among developed countries in the importance of its primary sector, in which the logging and petroleum industries are two of the most prominent components.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>

Canada is one of the few developed nations that are net exporters of energy.<ref name="energy">Script error</ref> Atlantic Canada possesses vast offshore deposits of natural gas, and Alberta also hosts large oil and gas resources. The vastness of the Athabasca oil sands and other assets results in Canada having 13% of the global oil reserves, the world's third-largest, after Venezuela and Saudi Arabia.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada is additionally one of the world's largest suppliers of agricultural products; the Canadian Prairies are one of the most important global producers of wheat, canola, and other grains.<ref name="britton">Script error</ref> The Ministry of Natural Resources in Canada provides statistics regarding their major exports, zinc and uranium, and is a leading exporter of many other minerals, such as gold, nickel, aluminum, steel, iron ore, Coking Coal, and lead.<ref name="energy"/><ref name=2009MineProduction>Script error</ref><ref>Mineral Trade | Natural Resources Canada</ref> Many towns in northern Canada, where agriculture is difficult, are sustainable because of nearby mines or sources of timber. Canada also has a sizeable manufacturing sector centred in southern Ontario and Quebec, with automobiles and aeronautics representing particularly important industries.<ref>Script error</ref>

Canada's economic integration with the United States has increased significantly since World War II.<ref name="MoslerCatley2013">Script error</ref> The Automotive Products Trade Agreement of 1965 opened Canada's borders to trade in the automobile manufacturing industry. In the 1970s, concerns over energy self-sufficiency and foreign ownership in the manufacturing sectors prompted Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's Liberal government to enact the National Energy Program (NEP) and the Foreign Investment Review Agency (FIRA).<ref>Script error</ref> In the 1980s, Prime Minister Brian Mulroney's Progressive Conservatives abolished the NEP and changed the name of FIRA to "Investment Canada", to encourage foreign investment.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> The Canada – United States Free Trade Agreement (FTA) of 1988 eliminated tariffs between the two countries, while the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) expanded the free-trade zone to include Mexico in 1994.<ref name="britton"/> In the mid-1990s, Jean Chrétien's Liberal government began to post annual budgetary surpluses, and steadily paid down the national debt.<ref name="Johnson2006">Script error</ref>

The global financial crisis of 2008 caused a major recession, which led to a significant rise in unemployment in Canada.<ref>Script error</ref> By October 2009, Canada's national unemployment rate had reached 8.6 percent, with provincial unemployment rates varying from a low of 5.8 percent in Manitoba to a high of 17 percent in Newfoundland and Labrador.<ref>Script error</ref> Between October 2008 and October 2010, the Canadian labour market lost 162,000 full-time jobs and a total of 224,000 permanent jobs.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada's federal debt was estimated to total $566.7 billion for the fiscal year 2010–11, up from $463.7 billion in 2008–09.<ref>Script error</ref> In addition, Canada's net foreign debt rose by $41 billion to $194 billion in the first quarter of 2010.<ref>Script error</ref> However, Canada's regulated banking sector (comparatively conservative among G8 nations), the federal government's pre-crisis budgetary surpluses, and its long-term policies of lowering the national debt, resulted in a less severe recession compared to other G8 nations.<ref>Script error</ref> As of 2013, the majority of the Canadian economy has stabilized, although the country remains troubled by slow growth, sensitivity to the Eurozone crisis and higher-than-normal unemployment rates.<ref>Script error</ref> The federal government and many Canadian industries have also started to expand trade with emerging Asian markets, in an attempt to diversify exports; in 2011, Asia was Canada's second-largest export market, after the United States.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Widely debated oil pipeline proposals, in particular, are hoped to increase exports of Canadian oil reserves to China.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref>

Science and technology

In 2011, Canada spent approximately C$29.9 billion on domestic research and development.<ref>Script error</ref> As of 2012, the country has produced fourteen Nobel laureates in physics, chemistry and medicine,<ref>Script error</ref> and was ranked fourth worldwide for scientific research quality in a major 2012 survey of international scientists.<ref>Script error</ref> It has headquarters for a number of global technology firms.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada ranks seventeenth in the world for Internet users as a proportion of the population, with over 28.4 million users, equivalent to around 83 percent of its total 2012 population.<ref>Script error</ref>

The Canadian Space Agency operates a highly active space program, conducting deep-space, planetary, and aviation research, and developing rockets and satellites. Canada was the third country to launch a satellite into space after the USSR and the United States, with the 1962 Alouette 1 launch.<ref>Script error</ref> In 1984, Marc Garneau became Canada's first astronaut. As of 2013, nine Canadians have flown into space, over the course of fifteen manned missions.<ref>Script error</ref>

Canada is a participant in the International Space Station (ISS), and is a pioneer in space robotics, having constructed the Canadarm, Canadarm2 and Dextre robotic manipulators for the ISS and NASA's Space Shuttle. Since the 1960s, Canada's aerospace industry has designed and built numerous marques of satellite, including Radarsat-1 and 2, ISIS and MOST.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada has also produced a successful and widely used sounding rocket, the Black Brant; over 1,000 Black Brants have been launched since the rocket's introduction in 1961.<ref>Script error</ref>

Demographics

The 2011 Canadian census counted a total population of 33,476,688, an increase of around 5.9 percent over the 2006 figure.<ref name=2011CensusData>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> By December 2012, Statistics Canada reported a population of over 35 million, signifying the fastest growth rate of any G8 nation.<ref>Script error</ref> Between 1990 and 2008, the population increased by 5.6 million, equivalent to 20.4 percent overall growth. The main drivers of population growth are immigration and, to a lesser extent, natural growth.

About four-fifths of the population lives within 150 kilometres (93 mi) of the United States border.<ref>Script error</ref> Approximately 80 percent of Canadians live in urban areas concentrated in the Quebec City–Windsor Corridor, the British Columbia Lower Mainland, and the Calgary–Edmonton Corridor in Alberta.<ref>Script error</ref> Canada spans latitudinally from the 83rd parallel north to the 41st parallel north, and approximately 95% of the population is found below the 55th parallel north. In common with many other developed countries, Canada is experiencing a demographic shift towards an older population, with more retirees and fewer people of working age. In 2006, the average age was 39.5 years;<ref>Script error</ref> by 2011, it had risen to approximately 39.9 years.<ref>Script error</ref> As of 2013, the average life expectancy for Canadians is 81 years.<ref name="HDI">Script error</ref>

According to the 2006 census, the country's largest self-reported ethnic origin is Canadian (accounting for 32% of the population), followed by English (21%), French (15.8%), Scottish (15.1%), Irish (13.9%), German (10.2%), Italian (4.6%), Chinese (4.3%), First Nations (4.0%), Ukrainian (3.9%), and Dutch (3.3%).<ref>Script error</ref> There are 600 recognized First Nations governments or bands, encompassing a total of 1,172,790 people.<ref>Script error </ref>

Canada's aboriginal population is growing at almost twice the national rate, and four percent of Canada's population claimed aboriginal identity in 2006. Another 16.2 percent of the population belonged to a non-aboriginal visible minority.<ref name="Kalunta-Crumpton2012">Script error</ref> In 2006, the largest visible minority groups were South Asian (4.0%), Chinese (3.9%) and Black (2.5%). Between 2001 and 2006, the visible minority population rose by 27.2 percent.<ref>Script error</ref> In 1961, less than two percent of Canada's population (about 300,000 people) were members of visible minority groups.<ref>Script error</ref> By 2007, almost one in five (19.8%) were foreign-born, with nearly 60 percent of new immigrants coming from Asia (including the Middle East).<ref>Script error </ref> The leading sources of immigrants to Canada were China, the Philippines and India.<ref>Script error</ref> According to Statistics Canada, visible minority groups could account for a third of the Canadian population by 2031.<ref>Script error</ref>

Canada has one of the highest per-capita immigration rates in the world,<ref>Script error</ref> driven by economic policy and family reunification. In 2010, a record 280,636 people immigrated to Canada.<ref>Script error</ref> The Canadian government anticipated between 240,000 and 265,000 new permanent residents in 2013,<ref>Script error</ref> a similar number of immigrants as in recent years.<ref name=CIC1>Script error</ref> New immigrants settle mostly in major urban areas like Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver.<ref name="Grubel2009">Script error</ref> Canada also accepts large numbers of refugees,<ref>Script error</ref> accounting for over 10 percent of annual global refugee resettlements.<ref name="Simmons2010">Script error</ref>

Canada is religiously diverse, encompassing a wide range of beliefs and customs. According to the 2011 census, 67.3% of Canadians identify as Christian; of these, Catholics make up the largest group, accounting for 38.7% of the population. The largest Protestant denomination is the United Church of Canada (accounting for 6.1% of Canadians), followed by Anglicans (5.0%), and Baptists (1.9%). In 2011, about 23.9% declared no religious affiliation, compared to 16.5% in 2001.<ref>Script error</ref> The remaining 8.8% are affiliated with non-Christian religions, the largest of which are Islam (3.2%) and Hinduism (1.5%).<ref name="religion2011">Script error</ref>

Canadian provinces and territories are responsible for education. The mandatory school age ranges between 5–7 to 16–18 years,<ref>Script error</ref> contributing to an adult literacy rate of 99 percent.<ref name="cia" /> As of 2011, 88 percent of adults aged 25 to 64 have earned the equivalent of a high-school degree, compared to an OECD average of 74 percent.<ref>Canada – OECD Better Life Index. Oecdbetterlifeindex.org. Retrieved on January 1, 2013.</ref> In 2002, 43 percent of Canadians aged 25 to 64 possessed a post-secondary education; for those aged 25 to 34, the rate of post-secondary education reached 51 percent.<ref>Script error</ref> According to a 2012 NBC report, Canada is the most educated country in the world.<ref>Script error</ref> The Programme for International Student Assessment indicates that Canadian students perform well above the OECD average, particularly in mathematics, science, and reading.<ref>Script error</ref><ref>Script error</ref> Template:Largest Metropolitan Areas of Canada

Language

Canada's two official languages are English and French, pursuant to Section 16 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the Federal Official Languages Act. Canada's federal government practices official bilingualism, which is applied by the Commissioner of Official Languages. English and French have equal status in federal courts, Parliament, and in all federal institutions. Citizens have the right, where there is sufficient demand, to receive federal government services in either English or French, and official-language minorities are guaranteed their own schools in all provinces and territories.<ref>Script error</ref>

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