Welcome To Canada

CANADA --- Bounded on the north by the Arctic Ocean, on the northeast by Bafin Bay and Davis Strait, which separates it from Greenland; on the east by the Atlantic Ocean; on the south by the United States; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean and Alaska.

Canada is the world's second largest country, surpassed in size only by Russia. We have a total area of 9,970,610 sq km (3,849,652 sq mi)of which 755,180 sq km (291,575 sq mi) is covered by bodies of fresh water such as rivers and lakes.

Canada contains great reserves of natural resources, notably timber, petroleum, natural gas, metallic minerals, and fish. It is also an important manufacturing country.

Most of Canada's inhabitants live in the southern part of the country, and vast areas of the north are sparsely inhabited. The country is divided into ten provinces (Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, Saskatchewan) and two territories (Northwest Territories, Yukon Territory). A third territory called Nunavut, to be carved from the present Northwest Territories, will be created in 1999. The name Canada is derived from an Iroquoian term meaning "village" or "community".

The first use of " Canada " as an official name came in 1791 when the Province of Quebec was divided into the colonies of Upper and Lower Canada. In 1841, the two Canadas were again united under one name, the Province of Canada. At the time of Confederation, the new country assumed the name of Canada.

" O Canada " was proclaimed Canada's national anthem on July 1, 1980, 100 years after it was sung on June 24, 1880. This version was made in 1908 by Robert Stanley Weir, a lawyer and at the time Recorder of the City of Montreal. This is the version which was published in an official form for the Diamond Jubilee of Confederation in 1927, and has since been generally accepted in English speaking Canada.

By the time the war broke out in 1914, " O Canada " was the best known patriotic song in Canada, edging out " The Maple Leaf Forever " and others less well known today. In 1964, a government resolution authorized the formation of a special joint committee to consider the status of " God Save The Queen " and " O Canada ". On January 31, 1966. the Prime Minister, the Right Honourable Lester B. Pearson, placed a notice of motion on the order paper " That the government be authorized to take such steps as my be necessary to provide that " O Canada " shall be the National Anthem of Canada while " God Save The Queen " shall be the Royal Anthem of Canada. On July 1, 1980 the Governor General, His Excellency the Right Honourable Edward Schreyer, proclaimed the Act respecting the National Anthem of Canada, thus making O Canada an official symbol of the Country.

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