Position and boundaries [E1][E2]: Canada comprises all the North American continent north of the United States, with the exception of Alaska and Greenland. It is bounded on the north by the Artic Sea, on the west by the Pacific Ocean, on the east by the Atlantic Ocean, Baffin Bay, Hudson Bay and the Labrador Sea, and on the south by the United States.

Province and territories [E1][F1][S1][I1]: Canada has 10 provinces and 3 territories. The current provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The three territories are the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon.

Population [E1][E2][F1][S1]: 32,842,449

Area: 9,922,330 sq km

Density [S1]: 2,7 persons per sq km

Canada is the second largest country in the world: is slightly larger than Europe and about 176,000 square miles larger than the United States. But only about one – tenth as many people live in Canada as in the United States. This is because much of the northern Canada is an empty wilderness of forests and frozen wasteland.

With Canada being so large, the climate [E1] varies considerably throughout the country. Most of Canada has cold, long winters and deep snowfall; in January two-thirds of the country has average temperatures well below zero. The only areas with winter temperatures above freezing are the Pacific coast of British Columbia and southwestern Ontario. In the north summers are short and cool and the water around the Arctic Islands remains frozen for at least nine months a year. In most southern part of the country, summers are warm. There is plenty of rain in the region lying along the west coast and in the southeastern Canada where there is also a lot of snow during the winter.

Topographically, Canada is divided into five regions [E1][E2][F1]

1.The Canadian Shield [E1][E2][F1] which forms a ring around Hudson Bay covering nearly half of Canada. It is an area of Precambrian rock with treeless plains in the north as well as thick forests in the south.

2.The interior plains [E1][F1] lying between the Canadian Shield and the Rocky Mountains and including in the South, the Geat Lakes – St. Lawrence Lowlands, the region where most people live. This region is unforested in the south and forested in the north with large deposits of oil and potash.

3.The Arctic Islands [E1][F1] including the Queen Elisabeth Islands, mostly covered by permanent snow and ice fields.

4.The Appalachian Region [E1][F1] (http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=f1SEC855976 description et photos de cette aire) which is the northward continuation into Canada of the Appalachian Mountain System of the United States and includes Nova Scotia and the island of Newfoundland

5.The Cordillera region [E1][F1] which consists of high mountains ranges running parallel to the Pacific coast and including the Rocky Mountains, the Coast Mountains, and the St. Elias Mountains, where Mt Logan rises (6,050 metres), the highest peak in Canada.

Canada is famous for its enormous wilderness and natural environment. In the hundreds of parks [E1][E2] [E3][F1] you can find over 500 different species of birds and many beautiful trees, not forgetting the famous maple (you can see the maple leaf on the Canadian flag) and animals like the grizzly bear. In park such as Banff National Park in the Rockies, organized activities like hiking, caving, canoeing and mountain climbing mean that anyone can enjoy the wilderness without being a danger to the environment or to themselves.

Capital city: Ottawa [E1][E2][E3][F1][F2] , Ontario

Major Cities (pop. est.): Toronto 3,893,000, Montreal 3,127,000, Vancouver 1,602,500 [E1][E2][F1], Ottawa 921,000, Edmonton 840,000, Calgary 754,000, Winnipeg 652,500, Quebec 645,500, Hamilton 600,000.