Regions

Five regions, 10 provinces and 3 territories

• Atlantic Provinces — Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island, Nova Scotia, New Brunswick.
• Central Canada — Quebec, Ontario.
• Prairie Provinces — Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta.
• West Coast — British Columbia.
• Northern Territories — Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut.

The Atlantic Provinces

Atlantic Canada's coasts and natural resources — fishing, farming, forestry and mining — have shaped these provinces. The Atlantic Ocean brings cool winters and cool humid summers.

• Newfoundland and Labrador — the most easterly point in North America with its own time zone. The oldest colony of the British Empire. Known for fisheries, coastal fishing villages, offshore oil and gas, and Labrador's hydroelectric resources.
• Prince Edward Island (P.E.I.) — the smallest province, famous for its beaches, red soil and potatoes. P.E.I. is the birthplace of Confederation (Charlottetown Conference, 1864). The Confederation Bridge — one of the longest continuous multispan bridges in the world — links it to mainland New Brunswick. Setting of "Anne of Green Gables" by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
• Nova Scotia — the most populous Atlantic province and historic gateway to Canada. Halifax is Canada's largest east-coast port (deep-water, ice-free) and home to Canada's largest naval base. Famous for the world's highest tides in the Bay of Fundy, shipbuilding, fisheries, and Celtic and Gaelic traditions. Hosts the spectacular Halifax military tattoo.
• New Brunswick — founded by United Empire Loyalists, situated in the Appalachian Range. Has the second-largest river system on North America's Atlantic coast, the St. John River system. The only officially bilingual province — about one third of the population lives and works in French. Saint John is the largest city; Moncton is the principal Francophone Acadian centre; Fredericton is the historic capital.

Central Canada — Quebec and Ontario

More than half of all Canadians live in cities and towns near the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River in southern Quebec and Ontario — Central Canada, the industrial and manufacturing heartland. Together Ontario and Quebec produce more than three-quarters of Canada's manufactured goods. The region has cold winters and warm, humid summers.

• Quebec — about 8 million inhabitants, mostly along the St. Lawrence River. More than three-quarters speak French as their first language. Major industries: pulp and paper, hydroelectricity (Canada's largest producer), aeronautics, pharmaceuticals. Quebec films, music and food carry international stature, especially in La Francophonie. Montreal is Canada's second-largest city and the second-largest mainly French-speaking city in the world after Paris.
• Ontario — more than 12 million people, over one-third of all Canadians. Toronto is Canada's largest city and main financial centre. Founded by United Empire Loyalists; Ontario also has the largest French-speaking population outside Quebec. The Niagara region is known for vineyards, wines and fruit. Five Great Lakes border Ontario and the U.S.: Lake Ontario, Lake Erie, Lake Huron, Lake Michigan (entirely in the U.S.) and Lake Superior — the largest freshwater lake in the world.

The Prairie Provinces

Manitoba, Saskatchewan and Alberta are the Prairie Provinces — rich in energy resources and home to some of the most fertile farmland in the world. The region is mostly dry, with cold winters and hot summers.

• Manitoba — economy based on agriculture, mining and hydroelectric power. Winnipeg is the largest city; its Exchange District includes the famous Portage and Main intersection. St. Boniface, Winnipeg's French Quarter, is Western Canada's largest Francophone community at 45,000. Manitoba has Canada's largest Aboriginal population by share (over 15 %) and a significant Ukrainian community (about 14 %).
• Saskatchewan — once called the "breadbasket of the world" and the "wheat province". Holds 40 % of Canada's arable land and is the country's largest producer of grains and oilseeds. World's richest deposits of uranium and potash. Regina, the capital, hosts the RCMP training academy. Saskatoon is the largest city.
• Alberta — the most populous Prairie province. Named, like Lake Louise, after Princess Louise Caroline Alberta, fourth daughter of Queen Victoria. Five national parks including Banff (established 1885, Canada's first). The Badlands hold world-class dinosaur fossils. Alberta is Canada's largest oil and gas producer and home to the oil sands — and to vast cattle ranches that make Canada a major beef producer.

The West Coast — British Columbia

British Columbia is known for its majestic mountains and as Canada's Pacific gateway. The Port of Vancouver is Canada's largest and busiest port, handling billions of dollars in goods. Warm air from the Pacific gives the B.C. coast a temperate climate.

• Population — about 4 million; Canada's westernmost province.
• Forestry — about half of B.C.'s goods are forestry products (lumber, newsprint, pulp and paper); Canada's most valuable forestry industry.
• Other industries — mining, fishing, the Okanagan Valley's fruit orchards and wine industry.
• Parks — about 600 provincial parks — the most extensive park system in Canada.
• Cities — Vancouver is the gateway to Asia-Pacific. Victoria, the capital, is a tourist centre and the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet.
• Languages — large Asian communities make Chinese and Punjabi the most spoken languages in B.C. cities after English.

The Northern Territories

Yukon, Northwest Territories and Nunavut cover about one-third of Canada's landmass but together have a population of only about 100,000. Long cold winters and short cool summers; much of the North is tundra — a vast rocky Arctic plain with no trees and permanently frozen soil. Hunting, fishing, trapping and Inuit art remain part of life. The North is rich in gold, lead, copper, diamonds and zinc; oil and gas are also being developed.

• Yukon — Thousands of miners came during the Gold Rush of the 1890s, celebrated in the poetry of Robert W. Service. Mining is still important. The White Pass and Yukon Railway opened in 1900 from Skagway, Alaska, to the capital, Whitehorse. Yukon holds Canada's coldest temperature record (-63°C) and Mount Logan — Canada's highest mountain.
• Northwest Territories — Originally formed in 1870 from Rupert's Land and the North-Western Territory. Capital: Yellowknife (population ~20,000), the "diamond capital of North America". Over half the population is Aboriginal (Dene, Inuit and Métis). The Mackenzie River (4,200 km) is North America's second-longest river system after the Mississippi.
• Nunavut — "Our land" in Inuktitut. Created in 1999 from the eastern part of the Northwest Territories. Capital: Iqaluit (formerly Frobisher Bay, named after the English explorer Martin Frobisher who explored the Arctic for Queen Elizabeth I in 1576). The population is about 85 % Inuit. Inuktitut is an official language and the first language in schools. The 19-member Legislative Assembly chooses its premier and ministers by consensus.

Geography and population

• Canada is the second-largest country in the world by area, after Russia.
• Population — about 34-40 million people; the majority live in cities and towns within 200 km of the Canada-U.S. border.
• Three oceans border Canada — the Atlantic, the Pacific and the Arctic.
• Canada shares the world's longest international border with the United States.
• Six time zones run from east to west; Newfoundland has its own half-hour offset.
• Each province and territory has its own capital city — know the capital of your province or territory and that of Canada (Ottawa).

Provincial and territorial capitals

1. Newfoundland and Labrador
   St. John's
2. Prince Edward Island
   Charlottetown
3. Nova Scotia
   Halifax
4. New Brunswick
   Fredericton
5. Quebec
   Quebec City
6. Ontario
   Toronto
7. Manitoba
   Winnipeg
8. Saskatchewan
   Regina
9. Alberta
   Edmonton
10. British Columbia
    Victoria
11. Yukon
    Whitehorse
12. Northwest Territories
    Yellowknife
13. Nunavut
    Iqaluit
14. Canada
    Ottawa (national capital)

Memory aid