Geography

By total area (including its waters), Canada is the second-largest country in the world, after Russia. By land area alone, Canada ranks fourth. Canada has the longest coastline in the world.

Since the end of the last glacial⁶ period, Canada has consisted of eight distinct forest regions, including extensive boreal⁷ forest on the Canadian Shield (a large plateau that occupies more than two fifths of the land area of Canada). Canada has around 31,700 large lakes, more than any other country, containing much of the world’s fresh water. 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.

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 (Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manibota), which experience a continental climate, where daily average temperatures are near -15°C, but can drop below -40 °C with severe wind chills. 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, while between the coasts, the average summer high temperature ranges from 25 to 30 °C, with temperatures in some interior locations occasionally exceeding 40 °C.

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 (British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manibota), Central Canada (Ontario and Quebec), Atlantic Canada (the three Maritime provinces – New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and Nova Scotia – and Newfoundland and Labrador), and Northern Canada (Yukon, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut). (‘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 welfare⁸. Together, the provinces collect more revenue⁹ than the federal government, an almost unique structure among federations in the world. Using its spending powers, the federal government can initiate national policies¹⁰ 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.

Natural resources and industry

Canada has impressive reserves of timber, minerals, and fresh water, and many of its industries are based on these resources. Many of its rivers have been harnessed for hydroelectric power, and it is self-sufficient in fossil fuel. Industrialization began in the 19^th century and a significant manufacturing sector emerged, especially after World War II (1939-1945). Canada’s resource and manufacturing industries export about one-third of their output. Transportation equipment is the leading manufacturing industry. While Canada’s prosperity is built on the resource and manufacturing industries, most Canadians work in service occupations, including transportation, trade, finance, personal services, and government.

Canada’s chief manufacturing industry is transportation equipment, especially automobiles and auto parts. Subsidiaries of the American big three auto companies, General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, are Canada’s largest manufacturers; in the 1980s Toyota, Honda, and Hyundai also established branch plants. Nearly all transportation equipment is produced in southern Ontario and southern Québec.

Other significant manufacturing sectors, in declining order of output, are food processing, paper products, chemical products, primary metal processing, petroleum refining, electrical and electronic products, metal fabricating, and wood processing. Many of these manufactures rely on Canada’s vigorous¹¹ resource industries. Unlike the motor vehicles and other consumer products industries, which are highly localized in the heartland, resource processing is much more widely distributed across the country.