History of Canada

History of Canada

Introduction

A vast confederation of ten provinces and three territories, Canada is the world's second largest country after Russia, with an even longer coastline - about 250,000 km [155,000 mi]. It is sparsely populated because it contains vast areas of virtually unoccupied mountains, cold forests, tundra and polar desert in the north and west. About 80% of the population of Canada lives within about 300 km [186 mi] of the southern border.

Forests of cedars, hemlocks and other trees grow on the western mountains, with firs and spruces at the higher levels. The mountain forests provide habitats for bears, deer and mountain lions, while such animals as the sure-footed Rocky Mountain goats and bighorn sheep roam above the tree line (the upper limit of tree growth).

The interior plains were once grassy prairies. While the drier areas are still used for grazing cattle, the wetter areas are used largely for growing wheat and other cereals. North of the prairies are boreal forests which, in turn, merge into the treeless tundra and Arctic wastelands in the far north. The lowlands in south-eastern Canada contain forests of deciduous trees, such as beech, hickory, oak and walnut (Pang, 2004).

Climate

Canada has a cold climate. In winter, temperatures fall below freezing point throughout most of the country. But the south-western coast has a relatively mild climate. Along the Arctic Circle, the temperatures are, on average, below freezing for seven months a year. By contrast, hot winds from the Gulf of Mexico warm southern Ontario and the St Lawrence River lowlands in summer. As a result, southern Ontario has a frost-free season of nearly six months.

The coasts of British Columbia are wet, with an average annual rainfall of more than 2,500 mm [98 in] in places. The prairies however are arid or semi-arid, with an average annual rainfall of 250 mm to 500 mm [10-20 in]. The rainfall in south-eastern Canada ranges from around 800 mm [31 in] in southern Ontario to about 1,500 mm [59 in] on the coasts of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. Heavy snow falls across eastern Canada in winter (Brown, 2002).

History

Canada's first people, ancestors of the Native Americans, arrived from Asia around 40,000 years ago. The Inuit arrived later, also from Asia.

Norse voyagers and fishermen were probably the first Europeans to visit Canada. John Cabot's rediscovery of North America in 1497 led to a race to annex lands and wealth, with France and Britain the main contenders. Canada came under British rule after wars with France in the eighteenth century.

The creation of the British Commonwealth in 1931 made Canada a sovereign nation under the crown. Canada is now a constitutional monarchy. Under the Constitution Act of 1982, Queen Elizabeth II is head of state and a symbol of the close ties between Canada and Britain. She is represented by an appointed governor-general, but the country is ruled by a prime minister and an elected, two-chamber parliament (Pang, 2004).

Politics

Canada combines the cabinet system with a federal form of government, in which each province ...