Canada

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Country Name

Canada

Location

It is located in the northern part of North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, Canada's southern border with the United States is the world's longest bi-national land border.

Canada is the second-largest country by total area.

Capital

Ottawa.

Reason for Naming the country

The word "Canada" comes from the St. Lawrence Iroquoian word Kanata, meaning "village" or "settlement".

In 1535, indigenous inhabitants of the present-day Quebec City region used the word to direct French explorer Jacques Cartier to the village of Stadacona. Cartier later used the word Canada to refer not only to that particular village but to the entire area subject to Donnacona (the chief at Stadacona). By 1545, European books and maps had begun referring to this small region along the Saint Lawrence River as Canada.

Flag

The Canadian flag was adopted on February 15, 1965.

Canada’s national flag consists of three vertical stripes of red and white.

There are two red vertical stripes on the hoist and fly sides and one white stripe in the center which is wider than the red stripes on either side.

The red color is used to symbolize prosperity and hope.

The white color is used to reflect the equality of the nation, while also representing peace and tranquility.

There is also an 11-pointed red maple leaf centered in the middle of the white band. This maple leaf represents the cultural heritage of Canada and the vast natural resources found within its borders.

A nickname for the flag is “L’Unifolie,” French for “the one-leafed", it is also known as the Canadian flag or the Maple Leaf flag.

Flag Facts:

- The flag of Canada is similar to the flag of Peru.

Language

Canada has two official languages: English and French.

English is the mother tongue of about 59% of the population while French is the mother tongue of about 23% of the population.

18% of the population has more than one mother tongue or their mother tongue is not English or French.

Only In Quebec, French is the official language.

Canada is also home to a large immigrant population, which has conserved its native languages. Because of this, a large number of minority languages are used in Canada today. The most widely spoken of these languages are Spanish, Italian, and German.

Other minority languages spoken in this country include Cantonese, Punjabi, Arabic, Dutch, and Tagalog.