Overview

Canada is the largest country in the Western Hemisphere, covering 9,970,610 square kilometers including both land and freshwater areas. It is surrounded on three sides by oceans: the Pacific to the west, the Arctic to the north, and the Atlantic to the east. Its southern border with the United States, which stretches 5,525 miles, is the longest undefended border in the world.

Because Canada is such a large country (much of which is relatively uninhabitable), approximately 60 percent of its 1991 population of 26.9 million was concentrated in urban centers, particularly in the southeastern stretch between Windsor, Ontario, and Québec City, Québec. The largest cities are Toronto, with a population of 3.8 million, followed by Montreal, with 3.1 million, and Vancouver, with 1.6 million.

Unlike the United States, Canada is made up of provinces and territories: Yukon Territory, Northwest Territories, the recently created Nunavut, British Columbia (BC), Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario...