Difference between revisions of "Canada"

Canada <ref name="term_70140" />  

<p> Which with [[Newfoundland]] forms British North America, occupies the northern third of the continent, stretches from the Atlantic to the Pacific, from the United States to [[Alaska]] and the Arctic Ocean; nearly as large as Europe, it comprises a lofty and a lower tableland W. and E. of the Rocky Mountains, the peninsulas of [[Labrador]] and Nova Scotia, and between these a vast extent of prairie and undulating land, with rivers and lakes innumerable, many of them of enormous size and navigable, constituting the finest system of inland waterways in the world; the Rocky Mountains rise to 16,000 ft., but there are several gorges, through one of which the Canadian Pacific railroad runs; the chief rivers are the Fraser, Mackenzie, Saskatchewan, and St. Lawrence; Great Slave, Great Bear, Athabasca, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Superior, Huron, Erie, and [[Ontario]] are the largest lakes; the climate is varied, very cold in the north, very wet west of the Rockies, elsewhere drier than in Europe, with hot summers, long, cold, but bracing and exhilarating winters; the corn-growing land is practically inexhaustible; the finest wheat is grown without manure, year after year, in the rich soil of Manitoba, Athabasca, and the western prairie; the forests yield maple, oak, elm, pine, ash, and poplar in immense quantities, and steps are taken to prevent the wealth of timber ever being exhausted; gold, coal, iron, and copper are widely distributed, but as yet not much wrought; fisheries, both on the coasts and inland, are of great value; agriculture and forestry are the most important industries; the chief trade is done with [[England]] and the United States; the twelve provinces, Quebec, Ontario, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince [[Edward]] Island, British Columbia, Manitoba, Keewatin, Assiniboia, Saskatchewan, Alberta, and Athabasca, each with its own Parliament, are united under the [[Dominion]] Government; the Governor-General is the Viceroy of the Queen; the Dominion [[Parliament]] meets at Ottawa, the federal capital; nearly every province has its university, that of [[Toronto]] being the most important; the largest town is Montreal; Toronto, Quebec, Hamilton, and [[Halifax]] are all larger than the capital; taken possession of by [[France]] in 1534, settlement began at [[Quebec]] in 1608; by the treaty of Utrecht, 1703, [[Hudson]] Bay, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland passed to England; the rest of French territory was ceded to England in 1763; constituted at different times, the various provinces, except Newfoundland, were finally confederated in 1871. </p>