Geographical nature
The Canadian landscapeis marked by its great variety. Plains with fertile farm land can be found as well as huge mountain ranges, lakes and rivers.
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The huge mountain ranges in the eastern areas are the Torgat Mountains, the Appalachians and the Laurentians. In the west there are the Rocky Mountains and the Mackenzie Mountains. The Pelly Mountains and Mount St. Elias are situated in the north. The highest mountain is Mount Logan in the Yukon - territory.
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There are a lot of big lakes in Canada. The biggest is the Great Bear Lake. It covers 31.326 km².
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Canada's longest river is the Mackenzie River in the Northwest - territories. Other big rivers are the St. Lawrence River, the Churchill River and the Nelson River.
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Canada's 37 national parks are spread over the whole country. The oldest one is the Banff National Park on the east side of the Rocky Mountains in Alberta. It opened in 1885. The Vuntut National Park in the north of Yukon opened in 1993.
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The Canadian government set up more than 100 historical places, which played a part in the country's history.
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Canada covers six time zones. In the east the local time is three hours and thirty minutes behind Greenwich Mean Time. In the West of the Country the local time is eight hours behind GMT.
Trade and industry
In the St. Lawrence valley dairy farming and potato farming is managed. Wheat is grown in the prairies. The timber industry is very important. Canada has a lot of mineral resources like oil, natural gas, iron, uranium, copper and nickel. The most important branches of industry are food and drink industry, paper, textiles and also chemical, electrical, oil and coal industry.
Standard of living
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Canada's average life expectancy is very high. It is by men 74,9 years and women 81,2 years.
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More than 65. per cent of the Canadians have a house of their own and Canada has also one of the best telecommunication systems. 99 per cent of the Canadians are telephonically connected.
Religious affiliation
The majority of Canadians belong to a Christian church. More than 14,3 million Canadians are Catholic, 9,8 millions are Protestants and 3,3 millions don't have any confession. There are also small groups of Jews, Moslems, Hinduists and Buddhists.
Canada's languages
English is the mother tongue of 16,9 millions and French the mother tongue of 6,6 millions. 4,4 millions speak both English and French. Many Canadians have other mother tongues like Chinese, Italian, German, Portuguese, Polish, Dutch,....
The education differs from province to province. So the primary school covers six to eight years. The university basis study could take three to four years.
Sports
The best known kinds of sports are swimming, ice hockey, basketball, golf and skiing. The popular sports are football and baseball.
