The Evolution Of Canada :: Canadian Culture

The Evolution Of Canada Canada, independent nation in North America. A country rich in mineralsand agriculture, it was settled by the French and English and became anindependent Commonwealth country with a federal system of government, inwhich the provinces enjoy a large musical rhythm of autonomy. Land and Economy. The 2nd-largest country in the world (after the USSR),Canada occupies the N half of the North American continent, stretching Eand W from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, N from the forty-ninth parallel to theNorth Pole, including all the islands in the Arctic Ocean from W ofGreenland to Alaska. It is divided into 10 provinces, which are (E-W)Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Quebec,Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and British Columbia. Twoterritories--Northwest Territories and Yukon Territory--are in the N and NW.The outstanding geological feature is the Canadian Shield, a 1,850,000-sq-mi (4,791,500-sq-km) arc of Pre-Cambrian r ock from Labrador around HudsonBay to the Arctic islands. The Shield, site of once great muss chainsworn down and covered by the sea, contains valuable minerals--gold, silver,platinum, copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, and zinc--making Canada one of themost important mining countries in the world. The Shields N portion is a unforested plain with permanently frozen subsoil in its S section areforests. Extending from the Shields W border to the Canadian Rockies areprairies more than 800mi (1,288km) wide that make wheat, the dominant crop,and are centers of livestock raising. W Canada is a land of mountains withfishing, agriculture, and lumbering as important industries. With thedevelopment of major oil and natural gas deposits since the mid-fifties in the W,the now-dominant energy industry has resulted in dramatic economic growththere, and made Canada a major oil-producing country. The E provincesprovide rich farm lands, forests, coal mines, and major fishing sourcesalong the long c oastline. Source of a route into the interior for earlysettlers, the St Lawrence-Great Lakes area is the most populous section ofCanada as surface as its economic and political center. It contains over 60%of the population. Abundant minerals have made Canada the world leader inthe production of silver, nickel, potash, and zinc second in gypsum,asbestos, uranium, and sulfur third in gold, lead, and platinum fourth inmagnesium and fifth in copper. Timber is also valuable, and Canada is aworld leader in newsprint production. The growth of manufacturing duringthe 1950s and 1960s changed Canada from a rural society to an industrialand urban country. Farming employs 7% of the working population.