Canada Openarms!

WE WANT TO EMBRACE THE WORLD FROM CANADA!

WELCOME TO CANADA OPENARMS!

Joey at Ottawa Lake. Ottawa Openarms!

Population: 32,225,000

Lydia & Joey. Ottawa Openarms!

Capital: Ottawa; 1,093,000

Area: 9,984,670 square kilometers (3,855,101 square miles)

Language: English, French

Religion: Roman Catholic, Protestant

Currency: Canadian dollar

Life Expectancy: 79

GDP per Capita: U.S. $29,300

Literacy Percent: 97

Canada became The Dominion of Canada on July 1st, 1867. We officially became a country in 1982.

Canada is a constitutional monarchy and a federal state with a democratic parliament.

The Parliament is in Ottawa and is comprised of the House of Commons (Lower House) and the Senate (The Upper House – whose members are appointed)

The second largest country in area after Russia, Canada has coastlines on the Atlantic, Arctic, and Pacific Oceans, giving it the longest coastline of any country.

In area, Canada is slightly larger than the United States, but has only 11 percent as many people. It is one of the least densely inhabited and most prosperous countries.

A vast region of swamps, lakes, and ancient rock, known as the Canadian Shield, radiates out from Hudson Bay to cover half of the country; it is agriculturally poor with few people but rich in mineral deposits and forests.

The shield stretches from the Arctic to the Great Lakes and Labrador, cutting the country in half and contributing to a division between easterners and westerners.

The Canadian Shield and rugged western mountains experience subarctic climates, resulting in a near empty north—an estimated 75 percent of Canadians live within 161 kilometers (100 miles) of the U.S. border.

France pioneered settlement, but Britain gained control in 1763. In 1867 the British North America Act united English-speaking Upper Canada (Ontario) and French-speaking Lower Canada (Quebec) with Nova Scotia and New Brunswick in a self-governing confederation—with independence in 1931.

Canada is a multicultural society dependent on immigration for growth. Some 28 percent are of British descent, 23 percent claim French descent (concentrated in Quebec), 2 percent are aboriginal peoples—other minorities include Italians, Germans, Ukrainians, and Chinese. Canada’s population is highly urbanized, with most people living in four areas: southern Ontario, Montréal region, Vancouver city and southern Vancouver Island, and the Calgary-Edmonton corridor.

The urban economy has a large manufacturing base, and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has brought an economic boom—about 80 percent of Canada’s trade is with the U.S.

Industry: Transportation equipment, chemicals, processed and unprocessed minerals, food products

Agriculture: Wheat, barley, oilseed, tobacco; dairy products; forest products; fish

Exports: Motor vehicles and parts, industrial machinery, aircraft, telecommunications equipment, chemicals, timber, crude petroleum

We are waiting for your pictures. You can send them to theopenarms@ymail.com