The Evolution Of Canada :: Canadian Culture

The Evolution Of Canada Canada, independent nation in North America. A country rich in minerals and agriculture, it was settled by the French and English and became an independent Commonwealth country with a federal system of government, in which the provinces enjoy a large measure 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 E and W from the Atlantic to Pacific oceans, N from the 49th parallel to the North Pole, including all the islands in the Arctic Ocean from W of Greenland 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. Two territories--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 rock from Labrador around Hudson Bay to the Arctic islands. The Shield, site of once great mountain chains worn down and covered by the sea, contains valuable minerals--gold, silver, platinum, copper, nickel, cobalt, iron, and zinc--making Canada one of the most important mining countries in the world. The Shield's N portion is a treeless plain with permanently frozen subsoil; in its S section are forests. Extending from the Shield's W border to the Canadian Rockies are prairies more than 800mi (1,288km) wide that yield wheat, the dominant crop, and are centers of livestock raising. W Canada is a land of mountains with fishing, agriculture, and lumbering as important industries. With the development of major oil and natural gas deposits since the 1950s in the W, the now-dominant energy industry has resulted in dramatic economic growth there, and made Canada a major oil-producing country. The E provinces provide rich farm lands, forests, coal mines, and major fishing sources along the long coastline. Source of a route into the interior for early settlers, the St Lawrence-Great Lakes area is the most populous section of Canada as well as its economic and political center. It contains over 60% of the population. Abundant minerals have made Canada the world leader in the production of silver, nickel, potash, and zinc; second in gypsum, asbestos, uranium, and sulfur; third in gold, lead, and platinum; fourth in magnesium and fifth in copper. Timber is also valuable, and Canada is a world leader in newsprint production. The growth of manufacturing during the 1950s and 1960s changed Canada from a rural society to an industrial and urban country. Farming employs 7% of the working population.