Some facts about English-speaking countries Canada

Flag

Motto:  A Mari Usque Ad Mare  (Latin) "From Sea to Sea"

Anthem: "O Canada" Royal anthem: "God Save the Queen"

Capital: Ottawa

• The largest city is Toronto.

• The tallest and longest living tree in Canada is the Douglas Fir.

• Official languages are English and French.

• Government: Federal parliamentary democracy and constitutional monarchy.

• Monarch: Elizabeth II.

• The Queen's representative is the Governor General of Canada.

• The Parliament consists of Senate and the House of Representatives.

• The name Canada comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".

• Aboriginal peoples in Canada comprise the First Nations (native Indian peoples), Inuit and Métis. The descriptors "Indian" and "Eskimo" have largely fallen into disuse in Canada and are commonly considered pejorative.

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

• It has land border with the USA only and its common border with the United States is the longest land border in the world.

• Canada stretches from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west.

• The use of the maple leaf as a Canadian symbol dates to the early 18th century.

• The highest point in Canada is Mount Logan.

• The two principal river systems are the Mackenzie and the St. Lawrence.

• Canada is a federation of ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan) and three territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon, and Nunavut).

• The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary.

• The capital city, Ottawa, was originally named Bytown after Colonel John By.

The United States of America

Flag

Motto:  In God We Trust  (official) E Pluribus Unum   (traditional) (Latin: Out of Many, One)

Anthem:  "The Star-Spangled Banner"

Capital: Washington, D.C.

• The largest city is New York City

• Government: Federal presidential constitutional republic

• The Congress consists of Senate and the House of Representatives.

• The USA comprises fifty states and a federal district.

• The country is situated mostly in central North America.

• The country lies between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, bordered by Canada to the north and Mexico to the south. The state of Alaska is in the northwest of the continent, with Canada to the east and Russia to the west, across the Bering Strait. The state of Hawaii is an archipelago in the mid-Pacific. The country also possesses several territories in the Pacific and Caribbean.

• The United States is the third or fourth largest country by total area, and the third largest by both land area and population.

• The United States was founded by thirteen British colonies located along the Atlantic seaboard. On July 4, 1776, they issued the Declaration of Independence.

• In 1507, German cartographer Martin Waldseemüller produced a world map on which he named the lands of the Western Hemisphere "America" after Italian explorer and cartographer Amerigo Vespucci.

• Alaska, separated from the contiguous United States by Canada, is the largest state.

• The president serves a four-year term and may be elected to the office no more than twice.

• The United States has operated under a two-party system for most of its history. Since the general election of 1856, the major parties have been the Democratic Party and the Republican Party.

• The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States.

• The headquarters of the United Nations is a complex in New York City.

• The United States Capitol is the meeting place of the United States Congress, the legislature of the federal government of the United States. Located in Washington, D.C., it sits atop Capitol Hill.

• The Library of Congress is the largest library in the world by shelf space and number of books.

• Children are required in most states to attend school from the age of six or seven .

• The New York Stock Exchange, located on Wall Street, is the world's largest stock exchange.

• Denver International Airport is the largest international airport in the United States.

• Thomas Edison was an inventor. He is best known for the invention of the electric light, the phonograph, and the telephone.

• Thomas Jefferson was the third president of the United States and the author of the Declaration of Independence.

• Martin Luther King Jr. was an American civil rights leader.

• George Washington was the first president of the United States.

• Benjamin Franklin was an American statesman and scientist. In 1776, he helped Thomas Jefferson write the Declaration of Independence.

• Mark Twain the major American writer was the author of the novels Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

• Ernest Miller Hemingway was an American author and journalist, the author of “For Whom the Bell Tolls”, “The Old Man and the Sea”.

• Mount McKinley in Alaska is the highest point in the U.S. territory which is 6,194 meters.

• 302 foot Statue of Liberty which guards the New York City’s harbor was a gift from the French in 1886.

• The flag of the United States of America is often called "Stars and Stripes". Another name for the American Flag is Old Glory.