Otázka: Canada
Jazyk: Angličtina
Přidal(a): Káká
Canada is the second largest country in the world, after Russia. It is situated in the Northern Hemisphere between the Pacific, the Atlantic and the Arctic oceans. It extends in the northern part of the North American continent. There live about 10 million inhabitants. Population consists of Europeans (majority), North American Indians and Inuits (=Eskimos). There are 2 official languages- French and English. It comes from the history. The French (Jacques Cartier) and the English (John Cabot) explored the waters in the North America, while they were seeking for the new routes into the Orient. There was an intense rivalry between these 2 imperial powers due to the fisheries and fur trade. It resulted into the Treaty of Paris in 1763, where these states made an agreement and divided the areas.
The capital is Ottawa; it is the seat of government. Other big cities are Montreal and Quebec which are the French speaking cities of Canada; then Toronto, Winnipeg, Vancouver, Edmonton and Halifax. The currency is Canadian dollar which consists of 100 cents.
Canada is an independent member of Commonwealth. It is a constitutional monarchy, a federal state (divided into provinces) and parliamentary democracy. The reigning monarch, Queen Elisabeth II, is represented by the Governor General.
The Parliament has 2 chambers: the Senate and the House of Commons. The Senate has the same powers as the House of Commons, with a few exceptions. The House of Commons is the major law-making body. The head of the government is the Prime Minister.
I´d like to describe the Canadian flag. There is a red maple leaf on the white background symbolising snow. The red colour is in honour to the dead people in the WWII. On the sides there are 2 red stripes symbolising 2 oceans surrounding Canada. The Anthem is called “Ooo Canada”.
There are 2 types of climate-arctic and moderate continental. Behind the Polar Circle there is permafrost. It means that ground is permanently frozen. For this area are also typical tundra forests.
More lakes than land can be seen in some parts of the country, for example along the frontier (=border) with the USA-these are Lake Superior, Lake Erie, Lake Huron and Lake Ontario. These lakes create the national border and are shared with both states. Lakes which are entirely in Canada are the Great Bear Lake, Great Slave Lake and Lake Winnipeg.
The rivers can be divided into 3 systems. The Atlantic system is represented by the rivers St. Lawrence, Winnipeg and Saskatchewan. The St. Lawrence River is very important for the transportation. The Pacific system is made up mainly by the Columbia, the Frazer and the Yukon River. The river Mackenzie belongs to the Arctic system.
On the western coast there are the Cordilleras. This region is made up of the Rocky Mountains and the Coast Mountains and other ranges running north to south. The highest peak is Mount Logan situated in the St. Elias Mountains.
The central part is called the Prairies. These are the plains of Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba and they are among the richest grain-producing regions in the world (wheat). There are also important deposits of oil, natural gas and potash (uhličitan draselný).
Nature in Canada is glamorous. There are many national parks some of them are eg. Banff, Jasper, Glacier, Tuktut Nogait, Bufallo etc. In the wild there live typical animals such as marten (kuna), mink (norek), beaver (bobr), moose, black bear, deer, fox, goose.
I´d like to say some information about few Canadians provinces. Prince Edward Island is the smallest province. In Newfoundland and Labrador there is a 1 000 year old Viking village which is in the UNESCO list. Quebec is the Canada´s only French speaking province. In the year 1980 there was a referendum about becoming independent, however, it hasn´t passed. Here are the cities Montreal and Quebec. Alberta is named after Queen Victoria´s daughter. Here are the cities Edmonton and Calgary where were hold in the past the Olympic Games. In the past, Nova Skotia and New Brunswick became places for large numbers of English speaking people, called Loyalist, wishing to remain faithful to the British Crown. Therefore they came to Canada after the USA won independence in 1776.
