Canada

1. Mr. Womack Geography Canada

2. Canada • Canada is the second largest country in the world. • Canada is highly industrialized. • Canada has a high standard of living, and much land and open space. • Canada has far fewer people than the United States but does share a similar culture and economy.

3. Canada-Statistics • Population: 34,299,000 • Area (in square miles): 3,849,670 • Longest River: Mackenzie (2,635 miles) • Highest Mountain: Mt. Logan (19,524 feet) • Major Languages: English, French • Currency: Canadian Dollar • Number of Newspapers: 108 • Number of Television Sets: 19.4 million

4. Where is Canada? • Canada stretches 3,987 miles from east to west. • That is almost one-quarter of the way around the world. • The Atlantic Ocean is the border on the east. • The Pacific Ocean is the border on the west. • The Arctic Ocean is the border on the North. • The United States is the border on the south.

5. Canada

6. What Physical Regions Exist? • Canada has six physical regions. • The Canadian Shield • The Central Plains • The Rocky Mountains • The Arctic Region • The Appalachian Mountains • Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Lowlands

7. Physical Regions of Canada

8. What Political Regions Exist? • There are six political regions in Canada. • Maritime Provinces • Quebec • Ontario • Prairie Provinces • British Columbia • Arctic North

9. Political Regions of Canada

10. Maritime Provinces • Maritime means bordering on or near the sea. • The provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Prince Edward Island make up the Maritime Provinces. • They border the Atlantic Ocean. • They were the first places Europeans settled. • These are rugged areas of low, forested mountains. • People depend upon the forests and sea to make a living. • The Grand Banks have some of the best commercial fishing in the world.

11. The Maritime Provinces Nova Scotia Confederation Bridge-Linking Prince Edward Island and New Brunswick Newfoundland

12. Quebec • This is Canada’s largest province. • One out of every four Canadians live in Quebec. • Its most famous cities are Montreal and Quebec City. • Both cities are on the St. Lawrence River. • Quebec is an important center for manufacturing.

13. Quebec Montreal Quebec City

14. Ontario • This is the industrial center of Canada. • Great forests cover Northern Ontario. • Most of the people live in Southern Ontario. • The United States buys most of the things that Ontario produces. • Ontario is one of the fastest growing business centers in the world. • Toronto, the biggest city in Canada is located in Ontario. • The capital of Canada, Ottawa is also in Ontario.

15. Ontario Toronto Ottawa

16. Prairie Provinces • This was once an area that was covered with tall grasses. • Today the provinces produce much of the world’s wheat. • Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta make up the Prairie Provinces. • Manitoba has manufacturing and agriculture. • Saskatchewan is mostly agricultural. • Alberta has natural gas, oil, farming and tourism is important. • Major cities are Winnipeg, Manitoba; Regina, Saskatchewan; Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta.

17. Prairie Provinces Winnipeg Regina

18. Prairie Provinces Calgary Edmonton

19. British Columbia • The Rocky Mountains separate this province from the rest of the country. • The part of the Rocky Mountains in British Columbia is called the Brooks Range. • Thick forests and rivers loaded with salmon make British Columbia famous. • The largest city is Vancouver. • It is Canada’s port city on the Pacific Ocean.

20. British Columbia Vancouver Brooks Range

21. Arctic North • This area covers more than a third of the country. • This area included the Yukon Territory, the Northwest Territories, and Nunavut. • Nunavut was created for the Inuit, who are also called Eskimos. • This area is a desert, because it is dry, but it is a cold desert. • Much of this area is covered by tundra. • Tundra is a cold plain with no trees. • Miners have discovered huge mineral deposits there.

22. Arctic North Ice Breaking Ship The Northern Territories of Canada

23. Physical Features of Canada • Glaciers once covered much of Canada. • They wore down the eastern mountains of Canada. • These glaciers created the gentle rolling land that dominate Eastern Canada. • These glaciers also left behind many lakes and rivers. • Canada has more lakes than any other country in the world. • About 30% of the world’s freshwater is located in Canada.

24. How did glaciers change Canada? • The melting of glaciers left behind rich soil in the prairie. • There are still many glaciers in the Rocky Mountains of Canada. • The St. Elias Mountains in the Yukon have the tallest mountain in Canada: Mt. Logan (19,542 feet). • Glaciers cover many islands in Canada. • Canada has over 50,000 islands. • The three largest islands are Baffin, Ellesmere, and Victoria. • Those three islands are bigger than many countries.

25. Glaciers in Canada Mt. Logan- Highest Point in Canada Canadian Islands Baffin Island

26. Major Bodies of Water in Canada • Hudson Bay is so big that the entire state of Texas would fit into it! • The southern shore is flat and swampy so very few people live there. • The northern part of Hudson Bay is frozen much of the year. • Hudson Bay is in inlet from the ocean. • It has a mix of salt water and fresh water.

27. Hudson Bay

28. Other major bodies of water • The longest river is the Mackenzie. It is frozen much of the year. • The St. Lawrence river is smaller but very important. • More than 60% of Canada’s population lives close to or near this river. • Canada and the United States share four of the five Great Lakes. • The countries also share Niagara Falls. • This huge waterfall is 158 feet high and 2,600 feet wide.

29. Mackenzie River St. Lawrence River Niagara Falls

30. Subarctic climate • Most of Canada is in this climate which is the area immediately outside the Arctic Circle. • Canada is one of the coldest countries in the world. Average: 22 degrees • In the Arctic North the ground is always frozen. This is called permafrost. • This area gets less snow than the rest of Canada, but it so cold the snow never melts. • Some parts of Canada get as warm as 80 degrees, but the summers are short.

31. Arctic Circle Arctic North of Canada

32. Maritime Climate • This climate exists on Canada’s west coast. • Being close to water influences this climate. • Rain falls more frequently than snow in the winter. • On the winward side of the coastal mountains some place receive as much as 195 inches of rain a year.

33. Continental Climate • The Prairie Provinces have a continental climate. • This area is landlocked and far from the ocean. • They have short, warm summers and long winters. • The summers are even shorter in Canada because they are in higher latitudes. • Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta do not receive much rain because they are on the leeward side of the mountains. • Chinook winds from the mountains can cause a break from cold temperatures and droughts in the summer.

34. Prairie Provinces Chinook Winds

35. Humid Continental Climate • There is one small part of Canada that experiences this very mild climate. • It is the southernmost point in Canada and is farther south than some parts of California. • People here enjoy four different seasons. • They have short winters and long summers .

36. Point Pelee, Ontario The Southernmost Point in all of Canada

37. How does geography affect the Canadians? • The Inuit have a great balance with nature. • They have over 100 names for snow because it is so important to them. • They live by hunting and fishing. • Fish and other seafood provide work for commercial fishermen, and attract tourists to Canada. • Agriculture is a big business in the prairies. • Canada’s mineral resources and forests also provide work for many Canadians.

38. The First Canadian Culture • The oldest cultures are those of the native peoples, called “First Nations” in Canada. • The Inuit were given a new territory, Nunavut in 1997. They govern themselves. • About 370,000 Non-Inuit natives live in Canada. • The Inuit’s have their own language and culture. • They used to live in igloos and drive dog sleds. • They now live in wood or brick homes, and drive snowmobiles and watch television.

39. Other cultures in Canada • Canada is a country of immigrants. • When the country was founded in 1867, there were only 3.4 million people. • Today there are over 34 million people. • Many cities have a European influence from all of the immigrants. • Asians now make up 3 percent of Canada’s population • Many settled in Vancouver.

40. What languages are spoken? • Most Canadians speak English. • In Quebec most people speak French. • Canada is bilingual because it has two official languages. • Road signs and other messages appear in both English and French. • Besides these two languages, many other languages are spoken by natives and immigrants.

41. Road signs in Canada have information in English and French.

42. Where do most Canadians live? • About 23% of Canadians live in rural areas. • About 6% live on farms. • Most people live in urban areas. • Three main areas are Toronto, Montreal, and Vancouver. • Toronto is Canada’s largest city and has many different cultures inside the city. • Montreal is the center of French-Canadian culture. • Vancouver developed after the completion of the Canadian Pacific Railroad.

43. Trends in Canada • Diversity is becoming more and more important in Canada as more cultures come into the country. • The U.S. controls much of Canadian industry, and produces much of what the Canadians read and see on television. • Some people in Quebec want to be their own country and feel very strongly about the French language being used by everyone.

44. Natural Resources in Canada • Canada has a lot of good farmland. • Canada has lots of water used for fishing and hydroelectricity. • Canada has about 10% of the world’s forests. • Canada leads the world in zinc and uranium production. • British Columbia has some of North America’s largest coal deposits. • Huge reserves of oil and natural gas lie in Alberta, the Northwest Territories, and off the coast of Newfoundland.

45. Canadian Forests Canadian Hydroelectricity

46. Major Canadian Industries • Every major U.S. automaker operates factories in Canada. • Japan and Germany are the only countries that export more vehicles. • Forest products are Canada’s single largest export. • The trees are used to produce paper. • Large amounts of lumber are exported to Asia, especially to Japan.

47. Other Jobs in Canada • Not a lot of people work in mining or in agriculture, but these industries are very important because they provide important resources to Canada and the rest of the world. • Most Canadians work in service industries. • About 80 percent of them work in tourism, banking, and restaurants.

48. Environmental Problems • The paper industry has created a lot of water pollution. • Soil erosion is happening in some areas because of poor farming methods. • Deforestation has been a problem because of the size of the logging industry. • Some wetlands have been threatened which creates a variety of problems.