As mentioned in last year’s July post, Canada celebrates Canada Day each year because it became a dominion of the UK on July 1, 1867. (Although it became an independent nation in 1931, Canada still recognizes the British monarchy in its constitution and maintains close cultural ties with other Commonwealth countries.) Celebrations include parades, display of the national flag, singing the national anthem, maple leaf decorations, and fireworks.
Happy Canada Day!
Facts about Canada
Sources: The Banff Blog, National Geographic, Kids World Travel Guide
- Canada is the second-largest country in the world, by geographical area.
- Canada has the longest coastline in the world with 202,080 km/ 125,567 miles.
- Canada is about 4,600km long (north to south), covering more than half the Northern Hemisphere, and about 5,500km wide (east to west), which places it in six different time zones.
- More than half of all the lakes in the world are located in Canada! (More than 3 million!) The country’s lakes and rivers contain about 20 percent of all fresh water on Earth.
- The coldest ever recorded temperature in Canada is -63°C.
- Canada’s national animal is a beaver. This animal was very important to the trading economy for centuries of North American-European trade, and it was almost driven extinct!
- The French and British weren’t the first Europeans to colonize Canada: Around 1000 AD, some Icelandic Vikings made a settlement on the eastern coast of (present-day) Canada. They named the area Vinland and stayed for a few years before the settlement ended.
- Canada has two official languages: English and French.
- However, the Northwest Territories recognizes 11 official languages: Gwich’in, Chipewyan/Dené, Inuinnaqtun, Tłįchǫ Inuktitut, Cree, North Slavey, South Slavey, Inuvialuktun, English, and French.
- The literacy rate is 99%, so almost all Canadians can read and write.
- The name “Canada” comes from the indigenous word kanata, which meant “settlement” or “village” in the language of the St. Lawrence Iroquoians.
- Montreal is Canada’s second largest city with over 4 million inhabitants. It is also the second largest city in the world that has a French-speaking population – after Paris in France.
- Nine out of ten Canadians live within 100 miles of the US-Canada border.
- Canada is a member of the G7 and actively works toward policies that advance civil rights and equality.
- Famous Canadians include Seth Rogan, Mike Myers, Justin Bieber, Michael Buble, Alanis Morisette, Keanu Reeves, Jim Carey, Celine Dion, Neil Young, and Drake.
