Canada - Capital - Ottawa. Location - Northern North America, bordering the North Atlantic Ocean, North Pacific Ocean, Arctic Ocean. Canada is the second largest country in the world, smaller only to Russia. Territory - 3.9 million sq. mi.
Major and popular cities - Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Halifax, Victoria
Government - Canada is a constitutional monarchy with Elizabeth II, Queen of Canada as head of state, and a parliamentary democracy with a federal system of parliamentary government and strong democratic traditions.
Administrative divisions - Canada is composed of ten provinces and three territories. The provinces are Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia, Ontario, Prince Edward Island, Quebec, and Saskatchewan. The three territories are the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, and Yukon Territory. The provinces have a large degree of autonomy from the federal government, the territories somewhat less. Each has its own provincial or territorial symbols.
Geography and climate - Canada occupies most of the northern portion of North America. It shares land borders with the contiguous United States to the south and with the US state of Alaska to the northwest, stretching from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west; to the north lies the Arctic Ocean.
Average summer high temperatures across Canada range depending on the location. On the east and west coast average high temperatures are generally in the low 68 to 74 °F, while between the coasts the average summer high temperature range between 78 to 86 °F with occasional extreme heat in some interior locations exceeding 104 °F.
Economy - Canada is one of the world's wealthiest nations with a high per capita income, a member of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and Group of Eight (G8). Canada is a free market economy with slightly more government intervention than the United States, but much less than most European nations. In the past century, the impressive growth of the manufacturing, mining, and service sectors has transformed the nation from a largely rural economy into one primarily industrial and urban.
Demographics - The population is currently estimated by statistics Canada to be 32.623 million people. Canada is an ethnically diverse nation. The largest ethnic group is "Canadian" (39.4%), followed by English (20.2%), French (15.8%), Scottish, Irish, German, Italian, Chinese, Ukrainian and First Nations.
Language - Canada's two official languages, English and French, are the mother tongues of 59.7% and 23.2% of the population, respectively.
Culture - Canadian culture has historically been heavily influenced by English, French, Irish, Scottish and Aboriginal cultures and traditions, and over time has been greatly influenced by American culture because of its proximity and the interchange of human capital between the two countries. Many forms of American media and entertainment are popular, if not dominant in Canada; conversely, many Canadian cultural products and entertainers are successful in the US and worldwide.