Country Profile

Country name: Canada

Capital: Ottawa

GDP: purchasing power parity - $1.023 trillion (2004 est.)

Government Type: confederation with parliamentary democracy

Land Area

· total: 9,984,670 sq km

· land: 9,093,507 sq km

· water: 891,163 sq km

Climate: varies from temperate in south to sub-arctic and arctic in north

Population: 32,805,041 (July 2005 estimate)

Religion

· Roman Catholic 42.6%

· Protestant 23.3% (including United Church 9.5%, Anglican 6.8%, Baptist 2.4%, Lutheran 2%)

· other Christian 4.4%, Muslim 1.9%, other and unspecified 11.8%, none 16% (2001 census)

Languages Spoken

· English (official) 59.3%

· French (official) 23.2%

· other 17.5%

An overview of Canada

A land of vast distances and rich natural resources, Canada became a self-governing dominion in 1867 while retaining ties to the British crown. Economically and technologically the nation has developed in parallel with the US, its neighbor to the south across an unfortified border. Canada's paramount political problem is meeting public demands for quality improvements in health care and education services after a decade of budget cuts. The issue of reconciling Quebec's francophone heritage with the majority anglophone Canadian population has moved to the back burner in recent years; support for separatism abated after the Quebec government's referendum on independence failed to pass in October of 1995.

The People

Canadians share a family tree that represents peoples from around the world. Diversity, the fabric of Canadian society, shapes Canada’s political and cultural landscape.