General Information about Canada

- Area: 9,984,670 sq km (nearly 20 times that of France).
- Population: 33.5 million.
- Density: 3.4 inh. / Km ².
- Capital: Ottawa (Ontario).
- Official Languages: English and French.
- Currency: Canadian dollar.
- Government: parliamentary democracy.
- Head of State: Queen Elizabeth II, represented by Governor General David Lloyd Johnston.
- Head of government: Stephen Harper (Prime Minister, Conservative Party). After the overthrow of his government by a vote of no confidence in March 2011, he was reappointed to his post in May 2011.
- Type of State: Federation (10 provinces and 3 territories).
- World Heritage Sites by UNESCO: the Old City (1985; the old Lunenburg (1995), Nova Scotia; Miguasha National Park (1999), in the Gaspé, the Joggins Fossil Cliffs (2008) , Nova Scotia; the precipice Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump (1981) Rocky Mountain (Canadian Rockies, 1984 and extended in 1990), Waterton Lake National Park (1995), Dinosaur Provincial Park (1979); the Rideau Canal, which stretches north from Ottawa to Kingston Harbour on Lake Ontario to the south (2007).

Economy

Canada is now the ninth largest in the world economy, with GDP per capita of around 40 000 USD. Mining, electrical, Atlantic lobster, tourists, cars, immigrants, lumber and pulp, oil sands, telecommunications, Alberta beef ... all all contribute to Canada's prosperity. Canada receives more immigrants per capita than any other country. It does so partly for humanitarian reasons and to reunite families of immigrants, but it also benefits a lot of this immigration. Immigration in Canada provides capital, expertise, as well as labor cheap.

Canada is a country of natural resources. The deposits of Canada are the new oil emirate, after Saudi Arabia, but the black gold challenges the green future of the country, especially since the widespread availability of energy has made Canada the first consumer in the world in this area.
The Canadian government has succeeded in eliminating one of the worst recurring deficits in industrialized countries, with the help of good economic growth and by reducing its expenditures.