Key Facts
Canada is the second largest country in the world, smaller only than Russia and its area is nearly square kilometres. Canada occupies 41% of North America, with the USA to the south. The population of Canada is and the capital city is Ottawa. The official languages are English and , and the currency is the Canadian .

The people
Native Canadians have lived in Canada for at least 10,000 years. There are now only about Native Canadians, approximately 2.5% of the total population. About of Canadians live in cities or towns, and about live within 200 kilometres of the US border. The largest city is Toronto, with a population of million.

Geography
The of Canada is mainly forest, tundra, ice and snow. The Rocky Mountains cover a large part of Canada and the highest mountain is Mount Logan ( metres). West-central Canada is mostly prairie grassland – the main farming area. On the plains of the -central part of Canada are the major industrial areas. The St Lawrence is Canada’s most river, but its river is the Mackenzie (4,241 kilometres), in the north-west.
Niagara Falls, near the US border, are the falls in the world. Canada also has around lakes, over 60% of all the lakes in the world, and shares four of the five Great Lakes with the USA.

Wildlife
Well-known Canadian animals include the polar , moose and caribou. The Rocky Mountains are home to a huge variety of wildlife, including the elk, brown bear, grizzly bear and wild cats. can be seen off the east and west coasts. Canada also has over different kinds of birds.

Weather
The typical climate of Canada is short hot summers and long cold winters. On the east and coasts the winters are warmer, but the summers are cooler. Average temperatures in Ottawa are minus 6 to minus 15 degrees Celsius in January and 15 to degrees Celsius in July. The of Canada is extremely cold all year. Western and south-eastern Canada get a lot of , but other areas are much drier.