Canada, it's regions, provinces and territories

Canada, the strong north, stretches 9,984670 sq km in area and is made up of five distinct regions.

Atlantic, Central, Prairie, West coast and North. Ottawa is the capital of Canada and is situated in the province of Ontario.

Atlantic Canada is made up of Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Traders first came here to trade with the indigenous people and later built strong communities that survived and thrived on fishing, farming and shipbuilding. First Italian explorer John Cabot came to Newfoundland, then the French came in 1600 and were called Acadians. Settlers from Britain and Germany joined them and after the American revolution of 1775-1783 many Americans left USA and settled in Canada on the Atlantic coast. New Brunswick is Canada's only official bilingual province.

Prince Edward Island is famous for it's potatoes while New Brunswick and Nova Scotia for pulp, paper products and lumber, since forests are abundant here. Labrador and Newfoundland are famous for fishing and natural products like copper, nickel and cobalt. The Gulf of St Lawrence river is a big tourist attraction.

Central Canada is made up of Quebec and Ontario. Almost half of the Canadian population of approximately 35 Million live here. The Canadian Shield, an ancient rock formation which is millions of years old lies in Northern Quebec and Ontario and is rich in iron ore, nickel, gold, copper and zinc. The Great Lakes and St Lawrence seaway are situated here and for thousands of years provided the route from USA to Canada and vice versa. The Great lakes are Lake Superior, Lake Michigan, Lake Ontario, Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Ships from all over reach the lakes via Atlantic ocean and St. Lawrence river. The first people to live in Quebec were the First Nations and Inuit. The natives taught the French and later settlers how to survive in cold areas and we still find Aboriginal communities in Quebec till today. Most do speak French. Montreal is the main centre of Quebec. Six of Canada's Prime Minister's came from Quebec. Ontario is the province with the largest population. Most speak English and also second languages like Hindi, Punjabi, Tamil, Arabic, Cantonese, Urdu and Mandarin to name a few. Most people who migrated from other countries settled here. People in this province work in the service or the manufacturing sector. The automobile industry is big here as are industries like plastic, chemicals and food. The rivers provide the electric power and Niagara Falls generates electricity for both Ontario and New York state. Niagara area is rich in farmland and grapes for wine along with apples and peaches grow here abundantly.

The Prairie provinces consist of Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta. These are flat plains that are very fertile. Their name essentially comes from a word meaning grasslands. Cattle farmers live here and grow grain and other crops. Due to production of oil some areas of the Prairie s have seem a n increase in population. The First Nations people, original inhabitants of these areas were skilled in Buffalo hunting and helped later settlers to learn and earn a living farming. They and the Metis(descendants born of intermarriages between European and Indian origin natives), became traders, suppliers and interpreters during fur trade. With the building of the railways from the Pacific to the Prairies, immigration to these parts grew and people received cheaper lands to farm from the government. Alberta is a major producer of gas and oil. There is also coal mines here. Saskatchewan also produces gas, Uranium, Potash and is also the leader in producing wheat. Manitoba the land of 100,000 lakes is known for pristine and untouched beauty. Due to this there is tourism and hydroelectric power.

The West Coast is British Columbia while the North is Nunavut, Northern Territories and Yukon.

British Columbia is known for many things one of which is the majestic mountain ranges. For thousands of years the First Nation people lived here before the advent of Europeans. Their art and culture is distinct and the very well art form called the Totem pole originated here. The poles reflect native animals like whales, salmon, bears, eagles and ravens. Thousands of Chinese came to British Columbia to build the railways and stayed on. Forestry products like lumber, pulp and paper goods are very valuable product of British Columbia. Mining industry is also big here. With spectacular natural land, the view is stunning making it the tourist capital next to Niagara Falls. Tourists can fish, mountain climb or go hiking or river rafting here. Okanagan valley is rich in farming fruits and the area is rich in great soil for making wine.

Northern regions are the Yukon, Nunavut and North West Territories.

Nunavut is the youngest of the lot being formed in 1999.Foreigners came to the north in 1600s to trade in fur. The Hudson Bay company has controlled the fur for 300 years. Some natives still hunt and fish here as a way of life. Miners came here during the gold rush of 1800sThere are mines of gold, zinc, lead and diamonds. Natural gas and oil are available and people still explore for more of these prized items.

Here the daylight can last for all day and night in the summer months. The weather is very cold and during the winter months sun disappears and for months it is very cold. Soil is frozen in this Tundra region.